# 2.5G - [UPDATE 3.12.12 photo on last post]



## i4x4nMore (Mar 31, 2008)

Hey,

I got your PM and was interested to take a look...

So far so good. This is a proper planting of glosso.... and I suspect it will grow in quite nicely. Good job at reviving that original mess of glosso. Most people don't realize that you need very little of the plant tip when planting. I ususally plant exactly as you have done here but with 2-3 times the density... It can take MANY hours bending over your tank to do this! But in this way, it will turn into a carpet much faster. However, I realize that you may have not had that much glosso to start with.

At any rate, great start and I hope the lighting works out.

Cheers!


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## gnod (Mar 24, 2011)

^ thanks jeremy! Yea I had to pick at the stems/plant tips where I saw the roots to ensure that they're alive at least. haha


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## Capsaicin_MFK (Nov 15, 2009)

I recommend larger stones. The glosso will eventually take over the tank and you won't be able to see the ones you have in there now.


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## GitMoe (Aug 30, 2010)

Capsaicin_MFK said:


> I recommend larger stones. The glosso will eventually take over the tank and you won't be able to see the ones you have in there now.


+1 Exactly what I was going to say when I saw the pics. If those rocks are larger and just buried then pull them up a bit. Glosso will carpet taller than you think.


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## gnod (Mar 24, 2011)

thanks everyone, i think i may do a slight rescape today. 
i'm going to plant the glosso a little tighter and, replace the rock with my bigger one, and leave room for m. minuta. 

pictures later once i rescape!


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## gnod (Mar 24, 2011)

update - added slightly bigger rock and replanted everything. i decided i want to put glosso upfront, and m. minuta in the back...although they're both foreground plants, we'll see how it turns out!

pictures!








new scape - added the 3rd rock as the main focus. the other 2 are more for support although they look pretty nice as it is right now. 









closer shot of the rocks

sorry for the dirty water, moving the fluval stratum definitely makes it cloudy fast. and my filter is not here yet so.. yea 

let me know ur thoughts!


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## gnod (Mar 24, 2011)

update! got my m. minuta today (thanks jflng!)










i tried to put single nodes all around


















one thing i noticed about the glosso.. they're slightly yellowing a bit... :X 
hopefully it'll bounce back! 

thanks!


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## TLE041 (Jan 16, 2010)

Kudos to you for managing to plant all those plants with the Fluval Stratum. I nearly pulled all my hair out trying to do the same with my HC carpet (link to journal in signature). It was so light that nothing would stay planted. I went from Aquasoil which was very dense and a breeze to plant in (especially the powder type).

You should add more rocks to the left side. It looks a little sparce right now.


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## gnod (Mar 24, 2011)

^wow thanks! it was your journals that really tipped me over to finally do a nano tank. 

i found that the fluval stratum is pretty delicate. but it wasn't terrible planting, although the constant dust particles are annoying. 

i was debating on how else i can scape the tank to make it look less like a nano, and more like a real, depth filled scape. does that make sense? haha i've seen so many amazing tanks that are tiny, but look huge!


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## gnod (Mar 24, 2011)

a little update. 

i took out one of the small stones, added a small left over anubias petite and some dwarf hair grass









anyone know what the name of this plant is? i really like it.. it's unhealthy at the moment because the lighting situation wasn't that good in my 20L - hence i moved it to this one









close up of the right side









couple of takeaways:
1) fluval stratum is not too bad planting 
2) fluval stratum is TERRIBLE when you want to replant
3) fluval stratum is TERRIBLE when you try to place the rocks on a slope..

i actually added some more substrate to the right side.. don't know if you can tell but i decided not to bury the rocks but to just place it on top of the substrate. Tried... and failed. it doesn't stay 'up' on the slope like i need it to.. keeps falling down slowly. so i buried it. 

i haven't tested the ph level yet, but i will sometime this week. my 20L is actually more acidic than my 5.5G right now which i find odd... we'll see how this one turns out.


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## gnod (Mar 24, 2011)

can someone tell me what those fungi looking things are on top of my substrate...
unless i did get it right and it is, indeed fungi


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## shrimpnmoss (Apr 8, 2011)

GNOD, have you considered de-rimming this bad boy?


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## PinoyBoy (Mar 14, 2008)

Those m. minute looks huge. I think it's abit too late for the tank to be de-rimmed, unless Gnod is willing to take everything out. Then again, I think the plants aren't done settling in yet, so now would be a good time to do so.


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## gnod (Mar 24, 2011)

naw, not derimming it. I cracked my first 2.5G derimming it... ahahh i know klutz of me! i was doing a good job of it, but didn't realize how fragile the 2.5G is. I may do it with my new 5.5G soon...  i just need to break down the 20L!


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## gnod (Mar 24, 2011)

quick update: 

i feel like in the last 3 days i've had more visible growth then the last 2 weeks or so.

fts:









i can't tell if the m. minuta is rooting or not... small nodes have browned and died, others are still green. :X










right side









left side









the red plant im not sure about - in only 3 or so days, i already see growth! 










this is anubias petite that i had left over. i cut the original portion smaller but had trouble growing this one... once i moved it into this tank however, i think i've seen new leaves every other day so far. amazing how light is so important.. i know the position of the anubias may not be the best, and i sorta feel that way too. so if you have a suggestion, please share with me. 

*finally* - i can't tell if my glosso is rooting and spreading runners.. i know that usually, they grow upwards and i have to trim them. do i have to do this now so that they send out runners? i'm almost tempted to go co2 with this tank... i want my glosso carpet! 


thanks ya'll!


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## home grown (Jun 7, 2010)

looks good so far


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## gnod (Mar 24, 2011)

quick update: 
fts









glosso is growing well, but more vertical than horizontal. 

















i added a mystery snail to see if it'll help with the dusty/fungus sheet on top of parts of my substrate. i cleaned most of them out but they're still there. 

should i trim and replant the glossos' that have the longer, taller stem?


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## gnod (Mar 24, 2011)

dang.. no comments still? i thought everyone loves photos


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## JoraaÑ (Jun 29, 2009)

In new set up it comes and goes in no time...wait..what filter u using? co2?


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## shrimpnmoss (Apr 8, 2011)

I like your snail. Shrimps keeps your sub clean.


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## gnod (Mar 24, 2011)

Joraan said:


> In new set up it comes and goes in no time...wait..what filter u using? co2?


haha i am using red sea nano filter and no co2 yet. i initially didn't want to use any co2 but i may try DIY co2, and reactor - looks fun



shrimpnmoss said:


> I like your snail. Shrimps keeps your sub clean.


yea i think that snail was the only option i had of putting anything in there. it's too warm still to put anything else in there :X

my glosso is still growing upwards...  i guess i have to trim and replant those


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## gnod (Mar 24, 2011)

quick update: 
trimmed the red plant i still don't know the name of, lol
glosso is growing well but i can't tell if it's spreading its runners yet
the m. minuta is somewhat stagnant? some of them have been browning a bit

some photos:
























why does my m. minuta have 3 leaf clovers? haha 

one other note - i think i'm going to stay away from fluval stratum. as someone who enjoys slightly tweaking the scape here and there, the substrate is too volatile in terms of cloudiness. ill stick with eco or something else.  

i'm feeling impatient as i want to see some signs that glosso is spreading... and also because i want to rescape my tank. i got some awesome new driftwood ill be adding to my new 5.5G but... any suggestions for this one is welcomed.


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## gnod (Mar 24, 2011)

hmm something just came across my mind but, do i not have enough light on this tank? 
i had a 23W (100w equivalent) on this tank 2 inches from the top. i figured it was super high light so i just increased the distance by another few inches.. or do i have too much light?


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## firefiend (Sep 3, 2009)

what's the lumens on the light?

23w for a 2.5 gallons, at only 2 inches from the water surface seems like it would be high-light. I would certainly raise the light a few inches, 8" - 10" above the waterline... maybe even 12".

I'm not familiar with glosso or minuta to help much there but keep it up... I like your tank is evolving and look forward to seeing more.


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## gnod (Mar 24, 2011)

firefiend said:


> what's the lumens on the light?
> 
> 23w for a 2.5 gallons, at only 2 inches from the water surface seems like it would be high-light. I would certainly raise the light a few inches, 8" - 10" above the waterline... maybe even 12".
> 
> I'm not familiar with glosso or minuta to help much there but keep it up... I like your tank is evolving and look forward to seeing more.


thanks for ur comment! 

i believe it's 1600lm based on home depot's specification info available on their website. i raised it because i realized that too much high light can actually be adverse for their growth, although i've got no scientific data like some experts have here.


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## sampster5000 (Oct 30, 2010)

I like the red plant by the rocks. Do you know what that is? The marsilea wont kick off for a few months so dont worry about it not doing much right now. When I started with my marsilea I had half of my portion die off. Took 2 1/2 months for it to start spreading and I ended up filling my whole 15 gallon with it. Very easy plant once its rooted in.


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## Geniusdudekiran (Dec 6, 2010)

Hey, if we're still hatin' on shrimp stratum, lemme just say, it clouds like nobody's business. When I rescaped, it looked like muddy swamp water and killed my shrimp. Terrible.


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## gnod (Mar 24, 2011)

sampster5000 said:


> I like the red plant by the rocks. Do you know what that is? The marsilea wont kick off for a few months so dont worry about it not doing much right now. When I started with my marsilea I had half of my portion die off. Took 2 1/2 months for it to start spreading and I ended up filling my whole 15 gallon with it. Very easy plant once its rooted in.


haha i still have no idea! i just picked one up from my LFS a while ago, and it's turned out to be awesome.  and i think the plant i have isn't m. minuta but m. quad-something or another.. it gave out 4 leaf, (not 3 like i said in above posts)



Geniusdudekiran said:


> Hey, if we're still hatin' on shrimp stratum, lemme just say, it clouds like nobody's business. When I rescaped, it looked like muddy swamp water and killed my shrimp. Terrible.


seriously.. i think it's ok if it's used just for shrimps with little to no rescaping but... i'm a bit finicky with my scapes and like scaping so... i think ill be going back to eco complete. 


quick update: i sold off the RCS colony in my other tank and still found couple hiding in my mosses even though i thought i got everything out. put them in the 2.5G and one is berried again. -___- put 3 otos in here too to clean with some micro bugs i found on the glass  

fts soon hopefully.. hehe


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## gnod (Mar 24, 2011)

BEFORE:








AFTER:









I took out all the m.m. or m.q. or whatever it was because.. i dont know, felt out of place to me.
i added a tree branch (preview of what i have for the 5.5G) and trimmed and replanted the glosso. i can't be sure if my glosso is carpeting but.. i feel like it's taking a while.. am i doing something wrong?

close up of the right:








i still don't know what that red plant is, but i think that may be my favorite.


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## Geniusdudekiran (Dec 6, 2010)

gnod said:


> i still don't know what that red plant is, but i think that may be my favorite.


Looks like cinnamon yumyum  LOL


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## gnod (Mar 24, 2011)

^LOL, i see what u mean.

im kinda tempted to replace my substrate now.... not too happy with the stratum. :/


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## Raiden (Jun 5, 2009)

the red plant may be Ammania gracilis


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## shoteh (Nov 13, 2007)

Lol, your before and after pictures looks like you have a bunch of rcs gathered around during feeding time. Might this be a foreshadow of rcs in the near future?


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## gnod (Mar 24, 2011)

shoteh said:


> Lol, your before and after pictures looks like you have a bunch of rcs gathered around during feeding time. Might this be a foreshadow of rcs in the near future?


haha well i actually ended up moving all my RCS out of this tank to sell them
i actually put my CRS/CBS in there now and the tank has grown in much more! i haven't had a chance for an update, hopefully sometime this week.


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## Reyes 12 (Aug 29, 2011)

How many pounds of stratum did you use? Thinking of using it in my Fluval Edge


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## gnod (Mar 24, 2011)

a quick update - the tank is still going strong. i added a scarlet badis and 3 sparkle eye white clouds. the glosso took off for about a week when i added co2 but i took the co2 off after i added my crs/cbs in there. it's filling in slowly but still going! 


















these guys are pretty awesome


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## gnod (Mar 24, 2011)

Reyes 12 said:


> How many pounds of stratum did you use? Thinking of using it in my Fluval Edge


hey sorry about not getting back to u earlier. 
i bought a 8 lbs bag and used about half of it, maybe slightly more.


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## jerkosaurus (Jul 17, 2011)

Glosso looks like it's starting to take off! An updated fts would be sweet


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## gnod (Mar 24, 2011)

yup... i got baby shrimps!!!!!!! 
they're ridiculously tiny.. i was really looking for them because one of the 3 berried females ain't berried no mo'!


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## gnod (Mar 24, 2011)

they're climbing mountains.. 









and one for teaser..!!!


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## ren (May 19, 2010)

congrats dude thanks again for the 5gal the shrimp that are in there are preggo..the babies are super tiny!!! is that a moss wall i see in the back? hey is that teaser pic where your going to house the crabs?


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## gnod (Mar 24, 2011)

ren said:


> congrats dude thanks again for the 5gal the shrimp that are in there are preggo..the babies are super tiny!!! is that a moss wall i see in the back? hey is that teaser pic where your going to house the crabs?


glad you're liking the 5G! i bought another one.. lol
yep, the teaser is my paludarium tank... except i have no plants in there as of now... just bunch of rocks, substrate, plastic egg crates... and red devil vampire crabs.  just got 'em today.. they're pretty awesome. 

yep, moss wall from the flame moss you gave me. i was surprised it took off honestly cause.. for a while it didn't look it was going to.. haha


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## doncityz (May 17, 2011)

Glosso needs co2 to grow horizontally and high light as well.
but yeah needs an fts asap


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## gnod (Mar 24, 2011)

doncityz said:


> Glosso needs co2 to grow horizontally and high light as well.
> but yeah needs an fts asap


unfortunately, i rescaped this tank and made it a nano palu tank.. haha
i think i may do another planted tank though. christmas is coming!


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## Geniusdudekiran (Dec 6, 2010)

What did you do with the shrimp? I will/would gladly buy them off your hands.


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## gnod (Mar 24, 2011)

Geniusdudekiran said:


> What did you do with the shrimp? I will/would gladly buy them off your hands.


still got 'em! unfortunately i sold off my last available batch for sale.


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## Geniusdudekiran (Dec 6, 2010)

gnod said:


> still got 'em! unfortunately i sold off my last available batch for sale.


Haha, please do pm me when you have more for sale. SSS grades are at the top of my christmas list


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## philemon716 (Aug 14, 2011)

Noob question! How did you get the plant onto the driftbranch? Thread?


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## gnod (Mar 24, 2011)

philemon716 said:


> Noob question! How did you get the plant onto the driftbranch? Thread?


what plant? if you're talking about the anubias i didn't really attach it.
the roots were shaped in such a way that i just had to 'coil' it around the branches.
it was easy enough for me.

update: i think i'm going to be breaking down the nano palu tank for the vampire crab and restart this. any suggestions?
i'm getting an itch for simplicity so i may get one iwagumi rock and put in tons of moss.


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## gnod (Mar 24, 2011)

update as of yesterday. i rescaped a while ago but waiting for everything to fill it. i've been in the process of moving the tree to front (which i did in the photo) which is why my glosso looks messy at the moment.


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## Wicket_lfe (Aug 21, 2008)

that is an awesome little tree. and is that a red tiger lotus in the corner? awesome.


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## gnod (Mar 24, 2011)

thanks very much! and yes that's a red tiger lotus.
i had it in my main shrimp tank before which is really low light i guess... it hardly grew and stayed that size for a month or so. I moved it to this tank and probably will take off now.


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## CorallineAlgae (Apr 8, 2012)

Nice update! I like the tree and the glosso, love that little cherry barb (a favorite) but do miss seeing those great rocks you had in there. It's a shame the sub doesn't hold a slope. I feel a little isolated because I use flourite and nobody else seems to. It does hold a slope for ages but just isn't as sexy as other substrates.


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## Basil (Jul 11, 2011)

Any new shots of the tank?


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## gnod (Mar 24, 2011)

haha thanks for the bump but it's been a while since i recaped my tank and made it my only shrimp tank. i'll get a photo up soon but it's a little... boring i think. hehe 

i am restarting my 4 gallon finnex again - just can't stay awayy



Basil said:


> Any new shots of the tank?


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## chou (Feb 23, 2012)

tanks lookin good. i need a camera lol


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## hecto33 (Jan 7, 2013)

i find it fairly easy to slope fluval shrimp stratum when its moist, also you can place the rocks to aid in the sloping. It's also best to slighty moisten the substrate when planting which helped alot when i was planting baby dwarf tears in mine, other than that there's not much to complain about the substrate.


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