# My first aquarium! 2.5g; Update: Filled! 4/3/11 pg3



## Blice (Mar 7, 2011)

A fellow software developer told me that sitting back and watching fish in his aquarium at work helped him figure out difficult programming problems. I've always thought aquariums were neat but never had that big of an interest, until he told me that. 

That was about three weeks ago and ever since then the idea of having an aquarium has been itching my mind non stop.. I've researched for days about the history of aquariums, chemicals, ph, plants, fish, aquascaping, co2, types of filters, so forth.. and now I think I'm finally ready to start. :icon_cool

Specs:

Tank: 2.5g from PetCo that I've already forgotten the name of.
co2: DIY paintball tank pressurized co2
Substrate: Eco-complete
Filter: For now a generic 10 gallon filter that hangs on the side of the tank, ghetto custom made intake pipe for less flow.
Flora: HC and maybe a stem plant in the back.
Fauna: 4x Cherry shrimp, one oto, and maybe some crystal reds in the future.


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## Blice (Mar 7, 2011)

First I derimmed the tank I got from PetCo. I actually went through THREE tanks, all cracked.. One of them still holds water fine and it's holding a couple shrimp I got on an impulse buy.

Here's the finished derimmed tank.. The silicone is terrible, I might just make my own some time. 










Filled with Eco-Complete...

















The hardscape is some petrified wood I purchased. It's interesting because it has crystal quartz growing in/on it. I researched putting quartz in aquariums and also petrified wood. I have boiled these, scrubbed them, and done calcium tests. I know these may make my water a little harder, but I don't mind changing the water more frequently; I hear CRS like a lot of water changes anyway.

Here's the wood:










The bigger piece:










A closeup of the quartz on the wood:



















I couldn't figure out a way to use all four pieces in an aesthetic way, so I've decided to use just two pieces.. 










in a different light..










Here's the cracked tank that I'm storing some shrimp in... I also bought a little plant while I was at the pet store to go in there with them. They've been in there for a few days now and seem happy.










I'm going to be ordering some UG in the next few days for my carpet, and will be growing them out of the water until they've rooted in, since that seems to be the way to do it. I'll update when I get more stuff,

Cheers!


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## karatekid14 (Jan 16, 2011)

Welcome to TPT, it looks nice! It would help the carpet spread if you pulled the plants apart.


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## WATduh (Feb 27, 2011)

Congrats! 2.5g was my first tank size too. Now I've upgraded to a whopping 10g! Best of luck to you.


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## JamesHockey (Nov 10, 2010)

Definitely watch the co2 levels on. This tank. Your going to need a very good needle vavle


Sent from my iPod touch using Tapatalk


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## Jadelin (Sep 30, 2009)

Welcome to the forum! It sounds like you did your research (which is very refreshing!). 

The little plant that you have in with the shrimp looks like a Marsilea species; a good carpeting plant.


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## GitMoe (Aug 30, 2010)

People underestimate the 2.5 standard tank. It can be a real challenge to scape and be extremely satisfying when scaped well. I'm planning to tackle re-scaping my 2.5 shortly. Is that quartz going to have any water quality effects? Could maybe raise your GH...


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## Blice (Mar 7, 2011)

Jadelin said:


> The little plant that you have in with the shrimp looks like a Marsilea species; a good carpeting plant.


Thanks for letting me know the name, the label at the pet store just read "mini clover".. I'm planning on putting it around the hardscape bases.



GitMoe said:


> Is that quartz going to have any water quality effects? Could maybe raise your GH...


I think it will raise GH. There isn't much information about quartz in aquaruims out there but from what I've found it's "safe". I think petrified wood is also known to raise GH some, so I will just have to keep up with water changes.



CRS and HC both do best in colder waters, how do I lower the temp of my aquarium? I've looked up tank coolers but they are expensive.. if I want to maintain a temp of 72, and it's 100 degrees in my apartment when I'm not there without the air conditioner on, what can I do?


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## JamesHockey (Nov 10, 2010)

Put it in the freezer... Jk

Try a 120mm computer fan blowing across the top


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## Blue_Ram (Sep 6, 2010)

Sorry about the bad results in attempting to take off the plastic rim on your new tanks. Could have been cheaper if you got a Mr. Aqua tank in the long run. 

As for your setup it looks nice. I would get the big rock and place the larger end in the substrate. Right now it looks top heavy. With that done try to place it just a bit off center and then use the other rocks you dont have in there.


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## Blice (Mar 7, 2011)

JamesHockey said:


> Put it in the freezer... Jk
> 
> Try a 120mm computer fan blowing across the top
> 
> ...


Thanks for the suggestion, I'll try that. If it gets too hot I'll throw some ice in a bag and let it float in there..



Blue_Ram said:


> Sorry about the bad results in attempting to take off the plastic rim on your new tanks. Could have been cheaper if you got a Mr. Aqua tank in the long run.


I plan on making my own tank eventually. I bought a glass cutter, spare glass to practice on, cutter oil, silicon, etc. already and have been practicing. :icon_cool


> As for your setup it looks nice. I would get the big rock and place the larger end in the substrate. Right now it looks top heavy. With that done try to place it just a bit off center and then use the other rocks you dont have in there.


I wanted it top heavy so it could be cliff-like. When I was in my teens I had a big interest in bonsai and penjing.. in landscape penjing, the rocks are always top heavy to symbolize cliffs and that's sort of what I'm going for here.

I have taken your suggestion to making it off center and putting the other rocks in. I think it looks a little better now. I wish my camera was better so you could see what I see, I'll need to buy a better one later..





























What I'm planning on... putting some plants (probably the dwarf clover things) around the rocks/behind them, and then the rest either UG or HC. I'm going to pile the dirt up a little high inbetween the left rock and the main rock to make it seem like they're a single rock with plants groing inbetween a crack in it. 

















Question: Can HC grow sideways? Like, if I put a screen mesh on a side of rock, with dirt contained in it, could I plant HC sideways?


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## Jadelin (Sep 30, 2009)

I really like the new scape better. I don't know about your HC question, but I would imagine that if it could get enough light, it would grow. It would still grow up, not perpendicular to the screen, which might make a pretty cool effect.


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## Blice (Mar 7, 2011)

The HC is scheduled to be delivered either today or tomorrow..



> ------------------------------------------------------
> 5 x Hemianthus Callitrichoides (Potted) (Dwarf Baby Tears) = $17.50
> ------------------------------------------------------
> Sub-Total: $17.50
> ...


I have a question about lighting. I want to get an idea of what is too much light and what is too little light.
Currently I have a coralife light that has 2x6w bulbs in it. Is this enough for a 2.5g tank? Alternatively it wouldn't be hard for me to get a couple 26w CFL lights and a light socket splitter, but would 2x26w be too much?

Also, should I be worrying about ferts yet? When should I start measuring my NPK levels and dosing?


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## JamesHockey (Nov 10, 2010)

if its t5ho you're fine


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## Blice (Mar 7, 2011)

Finished putting together my paintball co2 setup and there are leaks! x(

So.. I need to figure out what to do about that. More tape I guess.


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## Blice (Mar 7, 2011)

I got the leak fixed but I can't seem to regulate it down to a reasonable amount of co2... The very best I can do is like 5 bubbles a second, which is WAY too much. Either I need a better needle valve or a better regulator.. 

Can anyone direct me to a needle valve that would be able to turn the bps really low? Ultimately I would want something like 1 bubble per 10 seconds but I know that's nearly impossible- but the closest thing to that would be great.

EDIT:
Alright! I managed to get my bubble per seconds down to 1 bubble every 7 seconds. I have a slight leak in the regulator knob itself- I'm thinking that the regulator is a little too low grade to handle 800 psi of pressure, so I'm going to get a different one.

Other than that things are great. HC should be here in a couple of days. I ordered a nano diffuser, thermometer, check valves, and a sponge filter from AquaLiam which all arrived looking great.

If you want to know how I went about getting the fine tune control on the bubbles per second, I went to a hobby shop and asked them for their best airplane engine needle valve. It was $11 and works amazing.

EDIT:
The source for the decision to buy a needle valve for model airplanes is from this page that I found while researching: http://andygags.tripod.com/valves.htm


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## Blice (Mar 7, 2011)

To fix the leak I just got rid of the regulator and connected the needle valve directly to the on/off adapter. I was able to get it higher than 10 seconds per bubble, so that it can run 24/7 with a 2.5 gallon tank. 

Video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l2bD-Gy7a54


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## Blice (Mar 7, 2011)

My HC arrived today! 

I'm not sure how well I did. I tried my best to push the roots under the soil and make sure the HC was fitted in but I might have been sloppier on a couple of pieces. Also I planted in small 'chunks' along with single stems; I hope this is okay. 

I ended up having a lot more than I needed and I planted the tank pretty full. I usually see people plant much less and let it fill in, I'm sure there's a reason for that so I don't know.. 

HC is now getting some much needed light after its two days of shipping darkness. 

PICTURES :icon_cool

HC before tearing it apart.









HC after tearing it apart.









Tank is prepped and ready to go









All planted!









Top view









Lights go on!
















Some closeups..


















The final product on my desk. So exciting!









I'm growing it emerged until the roots settle in. When they start filling in some of the gaps between them I'll fill it.


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## sampster5000 (Oct 30, 2010)

Looks great with the HC in!


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## Blice (Mar 7, 2011)

sampster5000 said:


> Looks great with the HC in!


Thanks!


I ordered about double the HC that I planted, so I bought a 20g long tank today to put the rest of the HC in to carpet out and then later sell or use.










The throwaway tank I was using broke today. There was a crack in it already, which was why it was just a throwaway tank.. but I had bought some neons to go in there so when it cracked open I knew I had to save the fish... so I ran ti petsmart and bought a new 2.5g, and used the opportunity to rescape.

I took the suggestions on breaking up that plant so it would carpet, also.

before:









after:









:icon_bigg


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## sjuapseorn (Feb 17, 2011)

Wow....

you sure you haven't done this before?

I love that Wood with the quartz in it! I bet it is wicked looking in person.

Subbing this!


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## Blice (Mar 7, 2011)

sjuapseorn said:


> Wow....
> 
> you sure you haven't done this before?
> 
> ...


Yep, this is my first go.. I used to be really into bonsai/penjing so I have a little bit of a feel for that zen stuff but judging by some of the better tanks it'll definitely take some practice to make really nice looking tanks. 

I saw you also have a neon tetra and cherry shrimp tank. Your shrimp look better than mine- have you had any of them spawn?


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## sjuapseorn (Feb 17, 2011)

Blice said:


> Yep, this is my first go.. I used to be really into bonsai/penjing so I have a little bit of a feel for that zen stuff but judging by some of the better tanks it'll definitely take some practice to make really nice looking tanks.
> 
> I saw you also have a neon tetra and cherry shrimp tank. Your shrimp look better than mine- have you had any of them spawn?


 
I did have 1 berried that hatched quite a few juvies. Only a very few made it because I made an ignorant (un-researched) move and put most of my shrimp in my big tank. The tetra made short work of them to my horror. 

Honestly I rushed my tanks so now I'm struggling to get the water parameters right. As for the color, I think it has alot to do with what they eat as well as water params.

I feed mine Omega One veggie flakes and Omega One Veggie rounds. I bought some crab natural on the reccomendation of a LFS who has cherries that literally swarm out of the moss in droves for them, but mine don't seem to like it so it was a wasted 8$

As for the shrimp that are left in this 4g, they're super shrimp or something because my water went off the map and they're still trucking right along.. Even have another berried girl.. I just hope I can get this right soon or I'll lose all of them and have to start all over.

SJ


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## Blice (Mar 7, 2011)

I've learned a lot going through these forums. I've decided I don't really like my tank as it is.. I am going to finish it and leave the scape, but I would like to start on the next asap with something very different. I see a lot of the same tank over and over again and I feel like my tank is just yet another one of them with slight modifications. I don't feel like it's really mine. This is how I feel about my tank and others: 

Step 1: Get expensive rimless tank or derim something (Derimming something looks sloppier), and then add substrate with either a subtle or dramatic slope towards the back:










Step 2: Add expensive rocks. Either do one in the center, or three arranged in an appealing way. 










Step 3: Put in a carpeting plant. Either HC, UG, or Riccia. 










Step 4: Fill with water, buy expensive desk lamp, and then sit back and enjoy your great tank.










It makes me feel like I'm assembling something pre-designed and pre-determined. I agree it's appealing but where is the fun?
I have a lot of ideas for my next tank.. I can't wait to get the gears going :hihi:


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## PaulG (Oct 10, 2010)

LOL at final picture.


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## Loop (Jan 8, 2011)

Haha ^ "ADA, ADA, ADA"

Funny stuff. I get what your saying about them all being so similar. But it's basically a easy recipe for a nice looking tank. I'll be looking forward to seeing some creative ideas on your next tank.roud:


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## Blice (Mar 7, 2011)

It's been exactly one week since planting. I'm surprised so far.. I read that it took 2 weeks before you start to see any growth. It has only been one week and my HC has definitely grown! 

Top View Before:








Top View After:









Front View Before:








Front View After:









Happy with how lush and happy the HC seems to be. Here's a closer view:


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## karatekid14 (Jan 16, 2011)

You started out with so much it didn't have to grow to carpet!


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## sampster5000 (Oct 30, 2010)

Very nice. I just started my dry start a few days ago and keep looking at yours to feel better. Great job and awesome growth!


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## Blice (Mar 7, 2011)

karatekid14 said:


> You started out with so much it didn't have to grow to carpet!


lol, I know  .. I kind if wish I had started with less HC. It's going to be ready to fill in less than a month and I haven't gotten all of my equipment yet. I still need a filter, bubble counter, and drop checker!



sampster5000 said:


> Very nice. I just started my dry start a few days ago and keep looking at yours to feel better. Great job and awesome growth!


Thanks! The larger tank of mine that is carpeting HC isn't doing as well. I can't seem to keep it humid in the tank.. I think that is a key ingrediant to growing dry- humidity. Do you have a thread for your tank?


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## Ben. (Mar 29, 2011)

It looks nice, can't wait till you fill it up!


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## cableguy69846 (Dec 13, 2010)

Nice tank. I love all the HC. The 20 gallon is pretty cool too. As far as the humidity, maybe you can rig something up to introduce a little water at a time, like one of those reptile drippers. It may help with the humidity. I am for sure going to subscribe to this one. Good luck.


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## sampster5000 (Oct 30, 2010)

No thread for mine. I am afraid that the HC is going to completely fail! That would be embarassing  I might start it up after I see the carpet is growing.


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## Blice (Mar 7, 2011)

The trend of HC growing vertically in my tank was concerning to me. In my unexperienced opinion it was already time to trim a little and I hadn't filled yet. So I took the plunge this weekend and filled her up.. success! No HC floated! I'm currently flowing my co2 at 1 bubble per second, I might up it to 2 if the HC melts back any.

I have tons of pictures, here we go...


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## Blice (Mar 7, 2011)

Ben. said:


> It looks nice, can't wait till you fill it up!


Done!



sampster5000 said:


> No thread for mine. I am afraid that the HC is going to completely fail! That would be embarassing  I might start it up after I see the carpet is growing.


I hope it grows for you and I get to see it :thumbsup:



cableguy69846 said:


> Nice tank. I love all the HC. The 20 gallon is pretty cool too. As far as the humidity, maybe you can rig something up to introduce a little water at a time, like one of those reptile drippers. It may help with the humidity. I am for sure going to subscribe to this one. Good luck.


I've been looking into getting a humidifier actually.. I see them on amazon for as cheap as $25.. seems like a good solution, worth a shot anyway. 



Did a 30% water change today and I plan on continuing them until I start to cycle this tank.. as you might be able to see, I have no filter yet..

The HC keeps bubbling up, releasing them, bubbling more. I'm not sure if this is still just from filling it or if it's actually pearling? I didn't think they would pearl this early on; then again they were fast growers.










I have a couple questions,

What should I use to trim? I tried using regular scissors and I don't see it happening... 

Second question is, when should I start dosing ferts? Should I let it stabilize to its new aquatic environment before I add ferts or should I just start? I think maybe the nutrients that are already in the eco-complete might last for some time, but I have no idea what that time frame is.


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## Blice (Mar 7, 2011)

I managed to trim it a bit using scissors but it was definitely not easy.. I've looked around online and there is trimming sheers just for this kind of stuff that looks great but it's all kind of pricey. 

Under the fresh green parts I cut off, the bottom layers are a much deeper green and looks kind of unhealthy. Could this be the beginning of a nutrients deficiency, or maybe I've already let it grow too much?  I've upped my co2 to 2bps instead of 1bps, hoping maybe that will help.










Here's my hand to scale with the tank.. I really love the size of this thing.


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## JamesHockey (Nov 10, 2010)

pump the co2 up,the hc will melt a little when it changes from emersed to immersed


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## Armonious (Aug 16, 2010)

Tank looks nice so far. I am really surprised with how quickly your HC has filled in. 

MY one question, and forgive me if you already posted it (I couldn't find it in my read-through of the thread) was what specicic lights you were using on you 2.5 gal and the 20L. Also, what are the dimensions of that 20L.

Thanks in advanced, and keep up the great work.


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## andyl9063 (Oct 22, 2010)

you can send me some hc if you have to many :icon_mrgr

great tank btw.


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## Blice (Mar 7, 2011)

JamesHockey said:


> pump the co2 up,the hc will melt a little when it changes from emersed to immersed


The bps has been changed now to 2 bps, up from 1 bps. I hope that prevents any further unhealthy leaves.



Armonious said:


> Tank looks nice so far. I am really surprised with how quickly your HC has filled in.
> 
> MY one question, and forgive me if you already posted it (I couldn't find it in my read-through of the thread) was what specicic lights you were using on you 2.5 gal and the 20L. Also, what are the dimensions of that 20L.
> 
> Thanks in advanced, and keep up the great work.


Thanks! 
The lights for my 2.5g is the small coralife light. It has two 6w T5 bulbs in it. The light for the 20L is also a coralife light, but there is no other branding on it. The bulbs inside of it say "Coralife COLORMAX 6700K F18-T5-BP"..
The dimensions of the 20 long is 30" long, 12 1/4" from back to front, and 12 1/4" deep.



andyl9063 said:


> you can send me some hc if you have to many
> 
> great tank btw.


If it doesn't all die in my 20g I might!


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## JamesHockey (Nov 10, 2010)

btw we share one thing in common,we have the best thermometer available


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## palufreak (Mar 1, 2011)

Nice, I personally think you need at least one other kind of plant (background) but thats just me... Love the rocks!!


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## Blice (Mar 7, 2011)

I think even though my HC shows signs of potential melt (darkening lower leaves, some paleness) it is also showing signs of being very healthy. Tonight after the day of trimming, it began to pearl again. Not as heavy as before but it's definitely making bubbles! 

I am STILL worried that it might be too tall. Someone told me it should only be 1/4" from the substrate.. it is at least 1/2" and in some places a full inch. The one other worrying thing is that some places are detached from the substrate in a way that the roots come down and into the ground but the foilage starts a little bit above that... will those parts pull itself back down or send out stems that will go down to the ground, or are they doomed?




JamesHockey said:


> btw we share one thing in common,we have the best thermometer available


AquarLiam is the best store, man. Can't beat those prices. I got my diffuser from him also, good stuff.




palufreak said:


> Nice, I personally think you need at least one other kind of plant (background) but thats just me... Love the rocks!!


Agree 100%! I have been studying plants to see what I want to use in the background. I am planning on putting a single type of stem plant in the back and have it wrap around slightly. The goal will be both to give the tank a natural background and also to hide any tubes I have going in. Right now I am considering putting baby tears back there.. Dwarf baby tears and Giant baby tears are both carpeting, but regular baby tears seems to be a beautiful stem plant also called "pearl grass". I think it looks great. Might order some next week.


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