# 5 Gallon Fluval Chi



## JMex (Apr 8, 2012)

Hi! I got this tank a couple months ago but recently decided to do a rescaping with purpose so set this up a couple weeks ago. This is my first try at aquascaping (and really my first fish tank) so criticism is VERY welcome

Equipment:
5 gallon Fluval Chi tank
Finnex 26 watt clip on light
10,000-30,000k bulb
ZooMed 501 canister filter
Tetra 15 watt heater

Flora:
Anubias Barteri 'Nana' 
Hemianthus callitrichoides
Taxiphyllum barbieri
Hygrophila difformis
Cryptocoryne wendtii v. 'red'

Fauna:
Super delta betta
Zebra thorn snail
Amano shrimp
Malawa shrimp

Currently dosing Flourish once a week and Flourish Excel daily. Pictures are taken with phone, so they aren't the best atm, haha.









All the anacharis is temporary just to have something to help prevent excess algae growth while everything is new. And floating stuff is there just cause Loki likes to hide in it.









Finnex clip on light









ZooMed 501 behind the tank


















I originally wanted to put driftwood where that rock in the center is but couldn't find any that I liked when I was setting this up. Luckily flood season just ended here and I was able to go hunt for some. I found this piece that I think would look good if I chopped it up a bit.











Right now I'm thinking the driftwood is my best bet to make it look a bit better because everything is so short right now compared to the height of the tank.


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## EnigmaticGuppy92 (Jan 31, 2012)

looking nice and i agree that it needs some hieght try the driftwood and maybe add some valisneria


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## vincenz (Jan 29, 2012)

Throw some twiggy driftwood in there and it'll look great. I'm not a fan of doing tall plants in a small tank. Throws off the scale too much.


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## DishyFishy (Jul 17, 2011)

Beautiful tank, and my Betta's name is Thor, so they're brothers!


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## JMex (Apr 8, 2012)

Thanks for the suggestions/compliments. I'm currently boiling the driftwood to put in. We'll see how that turns out before I add anymore background plants :icon_wink

@Dishy: Norse gods ftw!


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## JMex (Apr 8, 2012)

So my anacharis has been slowly melting over the past couple days (I thought it was just new plant syndrome) but this morning it was so far gone I had to pull it. Did some reading and apparently excel kills certain plants and inverts so I'm gonna start dosing every other day instead and see how that works. On the bright side the HC is starting to carpet


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## Chizpa305 (Feb 13, 2011)

Yeah I heard that Excell also affects Pogostemon helferi (downoi). Let's see if I finally get that plant which by the way I have no luck finding, and see how it does in my tank. I have the same tank as you and the light I think is the same too.


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## JMex (Apr 8, 2012)

Chizpa305 said:


> Yeah I heard that Excell also affects Pogostemon helferi (downoi).


Thanks for the heads up! Good to know. Hopefully I can save up for pressurized c02 or stop being lazy and do some DIY so I don't have to worry about it anymore and just use it for spot algae treatment.


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## JMex (Apr 8, 2012)

Driftwood was finally ready so I added it in and took out that rock.










I'm not set on how to position it yet. Any ideas? I also have a couple more small spindly pieces I could throw in. The HC is growing, but some bits are also turning yellow. Hoping it's NTS but just in case I started dosing smaller amounts of excel daily and have the light on a timer for 8 hours a day. DIY co2 parts are also coming in the mail and should be here by wednesday. All other plants are growing very well so far.


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## PaytonGPettet (Jul 29, 2011)

How do you like the Finnex light? I'm looking into buying one for my nano tank.


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## JMex (Apr 8, 2012)

PaytonGPettet said:


> How do you like the Finnex light? I'm looking into buying one for my nano tank.


It's working pretty good so far. For a tank this small I've found I have to have it on for much shorter time periods to control algae but it's growing everything else fast.


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## JMex (Apr 8, 2012)

Thanks to Diana I found a wood setup that I like and looks more natural in the scape. I'm thinking of getting some more java moss to tie around the top parts of the branches to make it look kind of windswept. Other than that it's time to just wait and let it grow in.


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## Linsanity (Feb 23, 2012)

It really looks better comparing the first one and most recent one!


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## mattrt09 (Jun 12, 2010)

looks very nice! much better with wood


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## JMex (Apr 8, 2012)

Thanks guys!


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## JMex (Apr 8, 2012)

Going on week 5. DIY CO2 parts came in the mail yesterday so I got all of that set up this morning and got a 6700k lightbulb on it's way cause the one that came with my lamp is 30,000k. Hopefully this will help the growth of my baby tears and slow down the algae that has started to creep in. Two of my shrimp also mysteriously disappeared :confused1:


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## JMex (Apr 8, 2012)

Two days of co2 and the baby tears are coming back! And everything but the baby tears are pearling. Algae has begun to creep in though...I read somewhere on here that it is because of a lack of nutrients in high tech setups so I'm gonna order some dry ferts and start EI dosing. With how cheap they are I doubt it would hurt to get some anyway.


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## Chizpa305 (Feb 13, 2011)

JMex said:


> Going on week 5. DIY CO2 parts came in the mail yesterday so I got all of that set up this morning and got a 6700k lightbulb on it's way cause the one that came with my lamp is 30,000k. Hopefully this will help the growth of my baby tears and slow down the algae that has started to creep in. Two of my shrimp also mysteriously disappeared :confused1:


With the bulb I have, which is the same as the one you have (24 watts) I can say that the HC is thriving. I don't think the light is a problem. maybe you need to add some ferts. they do help the plants to look nicer and I think they also help to prevent some types of algae.

In my tank I doze Seachem Flourish Excel (2ml daily). I would suggest you try that if you are having problems with the HC. anyways with a CO2 system I think you'll bee golden.


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## Chizpa305 (Feb 13, 2011)

Never mind. I noticed from the picture that you are not stranger to the excel. What is the dosage you give? 

As for the algae, what type of algae are you seeing? My tank is being invaded by Green dust algae, but I read that the best way to fight that one is to let it untouched for about a month (even if the tank looks horrible) after that you clean it and it wont return again as long as you don't add plants from another place that might carry the algae and start the process all over again.


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## JMex (Apr 8, 2012)

Chizpa305 said:


> Never mind. I noticed from the picture that you are not stranger to the excel. What is the dosage you give?
> 
> As for the algae, what type of algae are you seeing? My tank is being invaded by Green dust algae, but I read that the best way to fight that one is to let it untouched for about a month (even if the tank looks horrible) after that you clean it and it wont return again as long as you don't add plants from another place that might carry the algae and start the process all over again.


I stopped using it once I got the DIY hooked up because it was making the shrimp go a bit loopy. I dosed 1ml daily though when I did use it. I have some kind of hair algae so I'm thinking it might be some kind of nutrient deficiency? I am going to try to post pictures later to get identification.


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## JMex (Apr 8, 2012)

Maybe it's my lack of sleep lately, but I am really hating my tank today. Starting the battle with hair algae so am doing 50% water changes every other day and dosing 2ml of excel daily along with my DIY CO2. During the water change today I trimmed the wisteria and attempted to replant it in front of and around the wood. Next time I'm definitely going to make sure I have ALL the hardscape before I even start to put it together. This wood does not like staying put and takes all the substrate with it when it moves so I put a rock in front of it just to keep it put. Hopefully the wisteria I planted in front of it will hide it good. Also having the size of the fluval plant stratum does not making planting stems easy in the slightest bit.


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## Chizpa305 (Feb 13, 2011)

Lol. I imagine that handling the plants in this tank with the driftwood there must be pretty difficult, but you managed to do it. I'm sure it will look a lot better if you let the wisteria grow tall behind the wood because it will help the driftwood stand out more, as opposed as having it against the dark background.

Talking about the background. I see that it is black. Did you paint it? I'm asking because I was also thinking to paint mine black. I'm not copying you or anything!! I swear. Lol. I've been having that idea going around my head for a while now.


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## JMex (Apr 8, 2012)

Chizpa305 said:


> Lol. I imagine that handling the plants in this tank with the driftwood there must be pretty difficult, but you managed to do it. I'm sure it will look a lot better if you let the wisteria grow tall behind the wood because it will help the driftwood stand out more, as opposed as having it against the dark background.
> 
> Talking about the background. I see that it is black. Did you paint it? I'm asking because I was also thinking to paint mine black. I'm not copying you or anything!! I swear. Lol. I've been having that idea going around my head for a while now.


Its a pain for sure, haha. I am thinking of getting some of those 2 foot tweezers I read about somewhere on here...I agree with you on the wisteria. After I cut it I was wishing I didn't as much. But the great thing about plants is I just have to wait for it to grow back  I took the lazy way for the background and just got some black construction paper, cut to size, tape to back. The only thing about that is that the light reflects off of it kinda weird. If I had thought to paint it before I set the tank up I definitely would have done that instead but it wasn't worth tearing down just for a painted background.


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## Chizpa305 (Feb 13, 2011)

Who said something about tearing down?? haha. I will just lower the water level and then cover the top of the tank with something impermeable. then paint it with a brush very careful. I will give it several layers until the light does not go through the glass at all. Give it some time to dry well, and that's it. I am not going to use spray because it would be more dangerous for the fish.


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## JMex (Apr 8, 2012)

Chizpa305 said:


> Who said something about tearing down?? haha. I will just lower the water level and then cover the top of the tank with something impermeable. then paint it with a brush very careful. I will give it several layers until the light does not go through the glass at all. Give it some time to dry well, and that's it. I am not going to use spray because it would be more dangerous for the fish.


Ah, I see. I would of tore it down for mine cause I have rocks on the back and such that hold up the substrate that would need to be taken out. That sounds like a good idea though!


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## JMex (Apr 8, 2012)

Went all out against the algae today. Full tank cleaning, taking apart canister filter, removing all the tubing and the wood for cleaning, taking a toothbrush to everything, and did two 50% water changes to get all the algae particles out of the water. Got some more wisteria to make up for the plant mass I lost when cutting off the bits that were too infected with the hair algae and added amano shrimp to clean up the rest. Loki really seemed ticked about his added tank-mates at first but after a couple hours is leaving well enough alone. Also started EI dosing today. Hopefully all of this will ensure that algae doesn't reappear/stays at a minimum. 

I'm not sure if I'm liking the baby tears. It doesn't seem like they are growing too healthy (brown patches all around under the new growth looks ugly in person) and if the added ferts and such don't help I might take it out and try to find some other low growing carpet plant to replace it.


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## JMex (Apr 8, 2012)

Woke up this morning to find that one of the amanos had managed to execute a perfect jump into the bowl of spare dechlorinated water I had on the floor :icon_eek:


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## 2in10 (Feb 8, 2011)

JMex said:


> Woke up this morning to find that one of the amanos had managed to execute a perfect jump into the bowl of spare dechlorinated water I had on the floor :icon_eek:


Lucky shrimp


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## Chizpa305 (Feb 13, 2011)

Amano shrimp is Japanese. Japanese = ninja


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## JMex (Apr 8, 2012)

Chizpa305 said:


> Amano shrimp is Japanese. Japanese = ninja





> Lucky Shrimp


Lolol. It was definitely a sight to look down and see it swimming laps around the bowl


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## JMex (Apr 8, 2012)

HC is far too infested with algae for it to be worth keeping it. Gonna rip it out this week and replace it with either dwarf hairgrass or glossostigma. Still not decided on which yet.


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## JMex (Apr 8, 2012)

Well, I took out the driftwood (temporarily) to help with tank maintenance while I figure out this algae thing. I also dropped the lighting time to 6 hours, and what do you know, algae growth has significantly slowed down, and plant health has increased. The shrimp are also out cleaning more of the tank. The HC is actually seeming salvageable at this point which I am very happy with as I didn't want to deal with starting another carpet plant. Going to continue doing water changes twice a week for now until I stop seeing the big groups of hair algae on everything. But it looks like it's headed in a good direction!


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## Chizpa305 (Feb 13, 2011)

Try to save the HC. It is a beautiful carpet plant. Post some pics to see how it's looking


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## JMex (Apr 8, 2012)

Oh, I have been forgetting to update! I reduced light time to 6 hours a day and added a couple more amanos. Algae problem is pretty much gone. A little here and there but it's good cause then I don't have to feed the inverts. The HC is definitely coming back strong. I had to rip about half of it out cause of algae/dead plant matter but whats left is coming back better than ever. I'll post pics tomorrow when the lights are back on.


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## JMex (Apr 8, 2012)

So, I have been just growing everything out for a while, but ever since that last algae outbreak nothing has been growing as good as it used to, and the scape is starting to look worn out. I'm gonna tear it down and re-do everything next month when my LFS has it's anniversary sale. I can't decide if I want to put the original filter back on and do some minimalistic thing with just sand and some stem plants in the middle or attempt to make an iwagumi type scape out of it.


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## JMex (Apr 8, 2012)

Finally tore it down and have started on the rescape. Harscape progression thus far...



















I'm letting it sit for a bit until I have the extra money to buy plants for DSM. This way I can also see if I like looking at it everyday before I make it a permanent thing.


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## JMex (Apr 8, 2012)

I planted it on friday but never got around to posting the update so here it is a bit late! Right after planting. So far it's HC and brazilian microsword.


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## jointbeaker (Feb 17, 2012)

any updates here? I'm trying a DSM Chi as well.


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## JMex (Apr 8, 2012)

Week 5 update:

Had some issues with white mold and the HC browning off a bit. Started misting with water change water from other established tank, letting it air out for a bit everyday, and added a cut open water bottle with water in it for humidity. Growth has been steady since. I think the eco-complete had trouble providing nutrients for the plants for a while but has finally absorbed some of the osmocote root tabs I put in, combined with the misting, has stopped the dying off of the plants. At this point just misting as it seems needed and making sure the water bottle has water in it to keep up the humidity. Starting to think of what plants to put in the back left corner. I'm thinking something with a bit of color to balance out the rest but I'll have to see what it looks like when I get the black background back on it.

Week 5 growth:


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## jointbeaker (Feb 17, 2012)

JMex said:


> Week 5 update:
> 
> Had some issues with white mold and the HC browning off a bit. Started misting with water change water from other established tank, letting it air out for a bit everyday, and added a cut open water bottle with water in it for humidity. Growth has been steady since. I think the eco-complete had trouble providing nutrients for the plants for a while but has finally absorbed some of the osmocote root tabs I put in, combined with the misting, has stopped the dying off of the plants. At this point just misting as it seems needed and making sure the water bottle has water in it to keep up the humidity. Starting to think of what plants to put in the back left corner. I'm thinking something with a bit of color to balance out the rest but I'll have to see what it looks like when I get the black background back on it.
> 
> Week 5 growth:


What are you using for a light period?

I've started a log on my two Chi tanks as well...one being my first try at a dry start, with Eco-complete & Miracle Grow Organic underneath that...

Here: http://www.plantedtank.net/forums/showthread.php?t=196209

I'd suggest taking off the filter/light mount on the back wall. i did that with mine, knowing very well that I was never going to use the stock filter anyways. It wasn't too hard (I used fishing line, and pulled that back and forth between the mount/glass to essentially cut the adhesive.) If you're familiar with taking off emblems/dealer stickers on a new car, it's very much the same process.


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## JMex (Apr 8, 2012)

jointbeaker said:


> What are you using for a light period?
> 
> I've started a log on my two Chi tanks as well...one being my first try at a dry start, with Eco-complete & Miracle Grow Organic underneath that...
> 
> ...


Light period is 10 hours with a 13 watt 6500 kelvin bulb (I think, it's either 13 or 19 watts, those home depot daylight ones). I am thinking of taking it off before I fill it. Though every time I'm about to do it the thought pops in my head that some day I might want to use the stock again, haha. I imagine that with some fishing line and a hair dryer it would be pretty easy to take off though. It would look a lot better too...just need to convince myself a little further :icon_roll


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## jointbeaker (Feb 17, 2012)

JMex said:


> Light period is 10 hours with a 13 watt 6500 kelvin bulb (I think, it's either 13 or 19 watts, those home depot daylight ones). I am thinking of taking it off before I fill it. Though every time I'm about to do it the thought pops in my head that some day I might want to use the stock again, haha. I imagine that with some fishing line and a hair dryer it would be pretty easy to take off though. It would look a lot better too...just need to convince myself a little further :icon_roll


It DOES look a lot better, and it would still be pretty easy at this stage in the game for you. 

I'm doing a 10 hr period, split up into two 5hr periods during the day. 

Hoping to watch your Chi grow out. :fish:


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## 12345arah (Oct 10, 2012)

cute! :3


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## JMex (Apr 8, 2012)

Week 10!










My phone camera is bad, it really isn't that yellow in real life, haha. Everything is growing very good. The microsword was actually starting to invade the HC a lot so I've had to keep up on trimming the runners. Contemplating taking some old plastic cards to put in and separate it from the rest. HC has been growing but also started browning on some ends for no apparent reason, nothing has changed from before so I've been problem solving that but it's going to be time to flood it soon anyway, just waiting on my new CO2 diffuser to get here and hopefully for the HC to get a bit healthier before the change.


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## JMex (Apr 8, 2012)

Just got my CO2 diffuser from GLA today and flooded the tank :biggrin:










This is another phone pic but I've been playing around a bit with a DSLR so hopefully the pictures will get better with future updates


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## JMex (Apr 8, 2012)

3 weeks after flooding! Had some plant die off and thanks to the steven P on the forums have narrowed it down to an overdose on Flourish Comprehensive so am cutting down on that in hopes to get my good carpet growth back. Planted ludwigia repens in the back right corner to add some height and color. Also added 3 amano shrimp and 5 ember tetra the other day.


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## Chizpa305 (Feb 13, 2011)

Hi Jmex, Have you been following up with this tank? I see that you added some more equipment there.


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