# PhiShYz 5.5 Nano Journal ~New Pics agian 4/14!!!



## PhiShY92 (Mar 2, 2008)

Well today I went out and bought my 5.5 for my nano. So here's the specs.

Tank: AGA 5.5gallon
Lighting: Desktop Lamp 26watt CF
Filtration: Whisper 10 HOB (Already had it so I mind as well put it to use)
Substrate: Amazonia II - Powder
Co2: DIY 2Litter Bottle -yeast mixture
Heater: 50watt Mini Elite Heater
Plants: HC + Dwarf Hairgrass + Java Moss/Fern
Decor: Zebra Rock; Bogroot
Fish: 2 Dwarf Puffers 
Dosing: Excel - dose as directed
Inverts- Snails for the puffers to snack on

Well today I painted the back on the tank black, I also painted the lamp black, which suprisignly turned out well. I ordered the substrate and heater tonight. Here's a few pictures so far:




















Here's the rocks


----------



## some guy (Jan 24, 2008)

Looks like it's gonna be great! I really like the rock setup.

Kind of a noob question, but what kind of paint do you use to paint the back of the tank? Up until now I've always used the reverse side of backgrounds haha.


----------



## PhiShY92 (Mar 2, 2008)

Thank you!
I used to do that as well, but you can use spray paint. It's Krylon spray paint made to bond with plastic but works well on glass as well.


----------



## diablostr (Sep 26, 2007)

Nice start but dont use excel with shrimps.


----------



## dekstr (Oct 23, 2007)

diablostr said:


> Nice start but dont use excel with shrimps.


I think if you read around on the different threads here many people have had experiences dosing excel w/ shrimp in the tanks with the shrimp being perfectly fine.

I did double excel dosage for a week and my RCS and amanos were perfectly fine AFAIK.


----------



## Choco (Dec 8, 2007)

dekstr said:


> I think if you read around on the different threads here many people have had experiences dosing excel w/ shrimp in the tanks with the shrimp being perfectly fine.
> 
> I did double excel dosage for a week and my RCS and amanos were perfectly fine AFAIK.


+1
I just started dosing excel on a shrimp (CRS & RCS) tank for 2 weeks and they are all fine.


----------



## trev (Mar 2, 2008)

cool, im running the same size tank, cant wait for updates.


----------



## PhiShY92 (Mar 2, 2008)

Thanks for all the pointers, constructive criticism, and compliments! Trev you'll have to keep me updated on your tank


----------



## PhiShY92 (Mar 2, 2008)

Well today I was considering taking off the top rim. That way I can fill this thing to the top sor a more slek look and better viewing. What do you guys think??


----------



## OhNo123 (Jan 8, 2008)

I would suggest NOT taking off the rim though it will definately look better without one. Taking off the rim is a pain and you have a very high chance of breaking the glass (rim is siliconed to the glass) while taking it off. Plus, I wouldn't take a rim off a tank over 2.5g since 5.5 is a lot of weight resting on glass that does not have any upper support. Keep in mind that each gallon is roughly 8 pounds so 5.5g is about 44 lbs. Then you have the substrate and filter adding additional weight. 

Thats just my opinion though, but do what you want.  If it works out, it will be pretty cool.


----------



## PhiShY92 (Mar 2, 2008)

Yes that is all true this is a very logical way of putting it. I guess it is a risk, but it has been done


----------



## MARIMOBALL (Mar 18, 2007)

Ive done it on a 10 gallon with no problem Im also gonna remove the rim of of a 10inch cube, just fill it before adding anything to make sure its water tight.


----------



## sadielmorris (Oct 3, 2007)

I also use excel with shrimp and have had absolutely no problems. 

Instead of rummy's or cardinals, consider neons. I find the rummy's that we have in out 75 gallon are very active and need a lot of space. I think they'd be cramped in a 5.5. 

In my 5.5 I've had guppies, neons, platys, otos, corys and now, a lone betta.


----------



## PhiShY92 (Mar 2, 2008)

Well I took off the rim today. It took 3 hours  But it worked! I filled it twice just to make sure it was water tight. I'll post some pictures later once it's up and running (as soon as my substrate comes).


----------



## thief (Jan 12, 2008)

I hope to see what the tank looks like with the zebra rocks! Also just to add I am part of the shrimp community and anted to add that dosing excel does in fact take a toll on your shrimp. Of course there are many other variables but it does effect them and slowly depletes there life time. It may not kill them at once but over time they will sooner or later die.


----------



## dekstr (Oct 23, 2007)

Taking off the rim of an aquarium is at your own risk for sure. Warranty is void the moment you tamper with the aquarium

However, that didn't deter me from trying to take off the top rims on my 2.5g and 5.5g.

The first time I tried was on the 2.5g. Basically I tried to just loosen the silicon seams and rip out the whole rim in one pull.

The result was my tank fracturing in multiple spots at the top. I lost about 1-2" of height because of this. However, the aquarium is still functional. This took me about 15-20 minutes.

The second time, it took me about 10 minutes to remove the rim of my 5.5 gallon tank.

I just used an exacto knife and went over the inner and outer seams until it cut off. I cut off each side individually. No pulling on the glass and silicon.

To scrape off the excess silicon, I used one of those carpet razors. They work amazingly to scrape off silicon from the glass. No breaks in the glass.


----------



## PhiShY92 (Mar 2, 2008)

Thats what took me the longest was the touch up. Scraping the excess silicon from the glass was a pain  Anyways here's some new pics!



















And here's my 28gal Bowfront. Low tech tank, only 18watts of light. Its been running for about 3 months now. It has cheapo plants in it. It's what made me want to start a tank with "real" plants. 










Bad picture but you get the idea. It has x3 Angelfish, x3 Clown Loaches, x12 Cardinal Tetras. The clown loaches will go into the 150 downstairs once they mature.


----------



## lauraleellbp (Feb 3, 2008)

Phish, I'm sorry to say you have some nonaquatic plants in there.

The two toned plants in the back are hostas- great houseplants or outdoor shade plants, but horrible aquarium plants.

I'm not sure what the plants in front are, they might be OK unless they're a lighter variation of mondo grass, and the plant in the back right looks like it might be a sword, so that would be OK too... but the hostas should come out asap.


----------



## dekstr (Oct 23, 2007)

Hey phishyz,

I read your post on my 5 g thread.

Some more suggestions: I think rummynose tetras and cardinals will be too big for your tank.

Rummynose tetras IME need at least 30" in order to have good schooling movement. They need a lot of horizontal open swimming space in large schools. There is no definite # in a school, but basically when it comes to schooling fish, the more the merrier! Minimum I say 8, which unfortunately 5.5g would not be big enough for.

Cardinals might be a a stretch but they are also quite active swimmers that thrive with more space, and also need to be a in large schools.

Minimum size I would say is 20 gallon long for rummynose tetras, 10 gallon standard dimensions for cardinals.

Looks like you're off to a good start.

As for the HC + dwarf hairgrass, I suggest planting some fast-growing floating plants or stem plants to get a head start on algae while the carpet plants catch up.

Carpet plant only tanks are quite difficult to maintain IME (see my 2.5g for some nice algae growth )


----------



## Fishy_Fun (Feb 9, 2008)

looks really nice keep us posted


----------



## PhiShY92 (Mar 2, 2008)

lauraleellbp said:


> Phish, I'm sorry to say you have some nonaquatic plants in there.
> 
> The two toned plants in the back are hostas- great houseplants or outdoor shade plants, but horrible aquarium plants.
> 
> I'm not sure what the plants in front are, they might be OK unless they're a lighter variation of mondo grass, and the plant in the back right looks like it might be a sword, so that would be OK too... but the hostas should come out asap.


Doesn't suprise me I bought them in plastic containers out of water. I knew they were nothing special but neither is my lighting


----------



## PhiShY92 (Mar 2, 2008)

dekstr said:


> Hey phishyz,
> 
> I read your post on my 5 g thread.
> 
> ...


Thanks for the pointers. I aprreciate this. Yea I was considering going witha Puffer tank. Figure Eight Puffers are very interesting. Though I don't know how they do with shrimp. Any inputs??



And thanks for the compliment Fishy


----------



## Timanator (Dec 19, 2007)

Good lord, 3 hours to pull the rim? Damn I gotta do that this afternoon to mine.


----------



## garuf (May 30, 2007)

3 hours is nothing, my 10 took me a good 7 from starting to getting the last of the silicon off. just make sure you have loads of sharp scalpel blades at hand.


----------



## dekstr (Oct 23, 2007)

Did you guys save the top rim?

It took me about 10-15 minutes to remove the rim and silicon.

The trick is to use sharp blades.

Puffers and shrimp means good game for the shrimp. Puffers feast on crustaceans.


----------



## garuf (May 30, 2007)

Me? hell no, straight in the bin, I kept the glass braces just in case, well, y'know just in case.


----------



## PhiShY92 (Mar 2, 2008)

I kept mine and ending up using it. I cut a section of it out so my HOB has more support. I stuck it under it but u cant see it.


----------



## garuf (May 30, 2007)

unless your glass is sub 4mm thick it should be easy to take off, just follow dekstr's guide lines.


----------



## PhiShY92 (Mar 2, 2008)

thanks for the input garuf


----------



## PhiShY92 (Mar 2, 2008)

The aqua soil finally came today. I have no diea how im going to scape this now. Should i use a piece of nice driftwood. or just the rocks. there and endless possiblity. also that piece of wood is not as bulky as it looks in this terrible picture.ill post more pictures later.


----------



## James From Cali (Dec 15, 2006)

I really like the combo of the rock and wood. Its on you; I like it though.


----------



## PhiShY92 (Mar 2, 2008)

Here two more:


















id rele like to incorparte the wood in there because im going to make this a dwarf puffer tank. they r very territoral and need places to hide and im going to have 2. so im thinking hairgrass in the back. hc carpet, java moss on the limbs, and a fern growing out of the wood to hide the bulkyness in the middle


----------



## PinoyBoy (Mar 14, 2008)

your last set up looks best IMO
but careful the hairgrass will creep to unwanted places
so use some sort of underground divider so the roots
wont send runners everywhere.


----------



## kana (Oct 23, 2007)

I really like your Zebra rock!


----------



## PhiShY92 (Mar 2, 2008)

thanks for the comments and suggestions.


----------



## PhiShY92 (Mar 2, 2008)

I've decided on a final hardscape:
FTS:









Hardscape:









Sideshot:









You can see all the holes etc in this bogwood:


----------



## SeaSerpant (Feb 20, 2008)

have to say i like this one the best out of all of them.


----------



## Mueller777 (Feb 6, 2008)

Great look. How did you get the top molding off the tank so it has the rimless look? I was trying to do it to the 2.5 I just set up but I had no luck. :icon_cry:


----------



## PhiShY92 (Mar 2, 2008)

SeaSerpant thank you for the compliment. And Mueller you need sharp razor blades, and patience. Skim both sides of the rim with razors to cut the silicon and pull it off. there's better details in the beggining of this thread on hwo to do this.


----------



## Mueller777 (Feb 6, 2008)

awesome. thanks


----------



## lauraleellbp (Feb 3, 2008)

You asked a question a while back about Figure 8 puffers; they need brackish setups, so IMO would not be a good choice.

One dwarf puffer might be OK, but you'll need to keep an eye on the shrimp; if it wants to puffers have killer teeth so would have no problems chowing down on shrimp.


----------



## Austinv (Jan 8, 2008)

I have a 5.5 dwarf puffer tank with one female dwarf puffer in it. I would put one in there and then maybe add another one. If you can find baby ones then go ahead and put two in since they have not matured. Make sure you are getting a male and female or two females. I would go with one and see what happens.

I feed mine pond snails and frozen bloodworms.


----------



## phanizzle (Jun 28, 2007)

the last setup you have is awesome!


----------



## PhiShY92 (Mar 2, 2008)

thanks all for ur inputs and feedback. yea btw im no longer putting shrimp in there. just snails for the puffers to eat. if i dont end up doing a puffer tank then im gong with guppies. but mostlikely puffers


----------



## froghair (Jan 5, 2008)

:bounce: Update! Update! :bounce:


----------



## Mueller777 (Feb 6, 2008)

I deffentally wanna see an update too lol I already got my 5.5g tank planted with HC!

I also got the rim off.... that was a pain....


----------



## PhiShY92 (Mar 2, 2008)

yea guys sry its been so long since i posted. i ordered a co2 diffuser on the 16th or march. it just came today on april 7th. its pretty much been the reason nothing has been done. but its finally here which means ill b going out to get plants soon. ill post an update asap


----------



## Mueller777 (Feb 6, 2008)

That's a pretty long wait.... Where did you order from?


----------



## PhiShY92 (Mar 2, 2008)

Well I ordered my plants and they came in. I planted them and let them sit for a few days to let thier roots grab a bit. I kept the humidty in the tank high by spraying it. Today I filled her up with bottled, distilled water. It's a little cloudy still but not too bad. After adding Excel™ the plants already began to pearl. Also I just mixed my Co2 mixture and I'm hoping that it will show signs of success soon.



















This is an absolutly horrible picture,but my camera is nothing special. I just wanted to show the pearling. You get the idea.


----------



## CL (Mar 13, 2008)

it is looking very nice, i cant wait to set up my 10 gallon that i just removed the rim from


----------



## PhiShY92 (Mar 2, 2008)

Thanks clwatkins 
That means alot me to. I've put a good amount of money and time into this aquarium. I'd have to say at least $80+. Being only 16 and unemployed this is a decent amount of money. So truely, thank you!


----------



## lauraleellbp (Feb 3, 2008)

I agree- very nice, especially on a budget!! :thumbsup:


----------



## PhiShY92 (Mar 2, 2008)

Thanks guys I really appreciate the feedback! Also, the Co2 is now working very well. Lots of bubbles are emitting from the Co2 diffuser!!


----------



## dekstr (Oct 23, 2007)

Great stuff phishyz! 

Just wondering, what kind of CO2 diffuser are you using? 

You're off to a great start! And have you decided on what fish to put in there? 

IMO your set-up is turning out really well! Keep up the work!


----------



## dekstr (Oct 23, 2007)

As for picture taking quality, just keep the camera very still (maybe prop it against something), aim straight (perpendicular) at the tank (not on an angle) to get a clear view. 

Take a lot of pictures and eventually a few of them will turn out in focus... at least that's what I do lol.


----------



## CL (Mar 13, 2008)

PhiShY92 said:


> Thanks clwatkins
> That means alot me to. I've put a good amount of money and time into this aquarium. I'd have to say at least $80+. Being only 16 and unemployed this is a decent amount of money. So truely, thank you!


lol, i too am 16 and unemployed and i just set up an aquarium that cost me about $80 also


----------



## PhiShY92 (Mar 2, 2008)

dekstr tahnks for the feedback and suggestion i appreciate it! as for fish i think im going with dwarf puffers. they r very interesting and ive alrdy notcied some snails that came along with the plants ^^

and the co2 diffuser is from ebay. it was 99¢


----------



## dekstr (Oct 23, 2007)

Ohh good deal!

Make sure your diffuser you got off ebay is DIY CO2 friendly. Some diffusers need strong pressure before they work. Another thing is that those diffusers get dirty / clogged easily. So it might be a good idea to get 2... so you can alternate between 1 for use and 1 for cleaning.

When I was 16 I sold yogurt and spent most of my time thinking about girls / hanging out with friends. None of this aquarium non-sense!


----------



## PhiShY92 (Mar 2, 2008)

haha yea i do that stuff do, just not the yogurt thin ^_^. But i got this hobby because of my dad we used to have a 250g angelfish tank, which later became a discus tank. after that i got addicted O.O and yea this diffuser is "designed" for DIY Co2. and i also ordered 2 when i ordered em just because it was so cheap!


----------



## PhiShY92 (Mar 2, 2008)

Heres the lastest FTS. The water is a bit more clear in this one. Also,if you will glance back at previous photos and notice I've moved my Co2 diffuser from under the filter (where the most flow is) to the side of the tank. Do you think ill still be getting a sufficient amount of Co2 with this placement?? The bubbles are no longer being pushed down by the flow of the HOB, though some of the bubbles do float over to the filter, and are still being pushed down into the water. You can see how much bubbles are emitting from the diffuser.


----------



## PhiShY92 (Mar 2, 2008)

quick up date: the hairgrass is already spreading. the root systems have crown 1.5cm and runners are poping up everywhere. the hc is also shown some slight growth but its not too noticable. also i picked up 2 dwarf puffers from my lfs. so far they r fine together until food is put into the tank. then they fight, espscially if they both find a snail! ill post pictures of these guys next time im not busy


----------



## Kayen (Oct 14, 2007)

dekstr said:


> Ohh good deal!
> 
> Make sure your diffuser you got off ebay is DIY CO2 friendly. Some diffusers need strong pressure before they work. Another thing is that those diffusers get dirty / clogged easily. So it might be a good idea to get 2... so you can alternate between 1 for use and 1 for cleaning.
> 
> When I was 16 I sold yogurt and spent most of my time thinking about girls / hanging out with friends. None of this aquarium non-sense!


How long ago was this...? because i don't think peopel sold yogurt anytime soon.
Anyways phishy nice progress, agreed with dekstr on the diffuser, those diffusers are moresuited for pressurized systems.


----------

