# First Planted, 5 gallons on a budget



## tenzero1

Off to a great start! I can't tell for sure but make sure you only bury the roots of the anubias and not the rhizome also make sure the java fern has rhizome above the substrate. Rhizominous plants need light on the rhizome.

I think your root tabs are a good idea but you can easily dose other ways. You just have to figure out how much or liquid or dry ferts to add for your tank size. There are online calculators to help. I would suggest going to the fertilizers section here and looking around.


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## Wicket_lfe

Nice start, nice and simple. Since they are low tech plants, I would just get some root tabs or some liquid ferts and just dose every so often. They don't demand much.

I kept some Java Fern and Anubias in a ziplock back on top of my tank, and they still grew with just the ambient room light.


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## ArchimedesTheDog

Thanks! I think the Anubia rhizomes are above gravel (well, except for that big one in the middle, I'll have to try to work that up), mainly because I couldn't get them into the gravel very well, maybe now I know why; I'll double check at home tonight. 

I actually read elsewhere in these forums that the roots of the java fern are supposed to _not _be buried, that the fern would take care of the roots itself, so last night I unburied the roots and just left it floating on the bottom. I was curious to see if the roots grabbed onto the rock next to the fern, but let me know if I was misunderstanding the instruction on the fern, I can easily re-bury the roots, it has a nice horizontal rhizome that seems in good health so far. I have had a brown thumb with potted plants in the past, so I am fretful about this learning process.

At this size of tank my main concern with fertilizer dosing was over-encouraging algae growth. I'll poke around the fertilizer forum and see what I can learn, it's pretty overwhelming, to be honest!

Is this a good place to ask about an easy floating plant to start with, or is that better to go to the plants subforum? With a small tank and one bulb, I know I don't want to choke the light, but I love the look.


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## radioman

I have dosed lquid ferts as small as a 2.5g tank. What I do is figure out how many drops from a dropper fit into the lid, do some math and go from there. So instead of dosing from the lid I just use a dropper.


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## ArchimedesTheDog

I adjusted the clump of big Anubias tonight, trying to get more exposed. Turns out it wasn't three shoots off a single rhizome like I thought, and instead was three shoots with roots, one with a bit of rhizome coming off I think. I really struggled with getting them into the gravel again and some roots are still above the gravel. lesson learned (most of the white is the lower layer of white gravel I have below the tan). 

I swear the crab came out of its log, looked at what I was doing, then went back inside to judge me in peace and quiet.


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## ikuzo

crypts looks like stil in emerse form
dont worry when it melt it will grow back with aquatic leaves


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## touch of sky

I usually tie my anubias and java ferns onto the rocks or driftwood. You have some very nice looking, healthy plants :red_mouth


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## ArchimedesTheDog

Some brown spotting has appeared overnight in the plants.


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## GMYukonon24s

Nice plants.


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## ArchimedesTheDog

Thanks! 

I have added Flourish Excel to the tank. I am going to underdose for a while to see how it goes, especialyl with the tabs in there.


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## ArchimedesTheDog

The brown spots are brown algae, and there are brown algae hairs growing off the end of the broken leaf in the foreground. It rubs off with my finger. I'll head to the algae forum to ask for advice.

Tank is still cycling, the Ammonia has dropped to 0 but the Nitrites are still at ~5.0 PPM, I expect them to start dropping soon. I change about a gallon of water every other day. I am using Amquel+ and NovAqua+, I switched to tap water from purified water, the Flourish Tabs are still in the gravel and I am doing ~5 drops of Flourish Excel every 3 days at the moment. 

I am considering Water Sprite in the tank to provide some floating greenery, I like the look better than Dwarf Water Lettuce.


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## ArchimedesTheDog

Thursday night I tested my nitrites and they were about 5 PPM, Ammonia had been down to zero since Monday. I changed a gallon of water, then I left town for a couple days on business. This morning, I am testing Nitrites at zero. I'm very pleased.

My Diatoms/Brown Algae are very prominent, now, though mostly leaving the glass alone. I'm trying to be patient, I know that usually it stabilizes, but it's really unattractive, of course. Now that the bacteria are present I will try to lower light levels for a few days, please let me kniow if that is the wrong approach.

Today I will change 2 gallons of water to try and get some of the detritus out.

Also, I have an unexpected tank denizen.


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## acitydweller

looks like he's clearing up the algae for you...


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## ArchimedesTheDog

I picked up a Water Sprite and an Otocinclus, today. To say that the Otocinclus started eating diatoms _immediately _would be an understatement! He spent _zero _time learning his environment, he sank onto a plant and set to work. I better go get some algae tabs! Not the prettiest fish, they had some expensive panda loaches that were beautiful, but I already like this guy's work ethic.

The mechanical filter medium in my HOB was also pretty sparse and didn't seem effective, so I bought some Fluval foam pads and stuck it in the filter with the other one.


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## ArchimedesTheDog

The extra filter foam has made a _tremendous_ difference in the water quality, holy cow. And speaking of huge differences, the Oto has been going to town on the tank, I'm worried he will run out of food immediately. I put a frozen pea in there but he has been ignoring it, tomorrow I will try Zucchini and some algae wafers. I read somewhere that the Hikari ones may not be great, so I was going to get Hikari and Tetra and try each.

I haven't seen the ramshorn in a day or so, he was on the back glass when the Oto landed, and he made off into the gravel I think.


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## ArchimedesTheDog

As noted, I have Flourish Tabs in the gravel and am adding Flourish Excel every other day. I didn't realize that the Excel wasn't also a fertilizer. Trying to figure out if I should also dose liquid Flourish or Flourish Iron or etc. Advice appreciated.


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## ArchimedesTheDog

Okay, I now have a large number of water quality tests that in total cost about twice what the tank and equipment cost; my wife is trying to figure out what she can add to the garden to make up for it. Water this morning was:

Ammonia: 0
Nitrite: 0
Nitrate: 40ppm
pH: >7.6 (man, this API test is useless with such a narrow range)
GH: 16 drops/300ppm
KH: 8 drops/140ppm
I found a rotting green pea behind the rock, stuck in the roots of the Java Fern; pulling it out largely uprooted the fern, but demonstrated that the fern is rooting at least! Leaves on the Anubias in the back left are yellowing, I have a feeling I will be replacing that one at some point. Lots of beautiful moss at the LFS in ym neighborhood, but kinda scary, looks like a lot of work.

Saw three ramshorns at once last night, only one visible this morning. The algae tab I left had been eaten, not sure if by the oto or the black skirt tetra, but the tetra was picking at the remnants today so I have a suspicion.

Black skirt goes back to the store Saturday. I'm then getting a school of some sort of nano fish -- LFS has a lot of varieties -- and a shrimp.

Tonight is another significant water change -- draining the tank down near the inlet of the filter lets me add about 1 and 3/4 gallons back in to have the water coming out of the filter with a slight drop to create more turbulence. I'm going to add a prefilter over the intake, hoping the Fluval fits the tube.


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## ArchimedesTheDog

Am I in the wrong forum with this? Should this be in Tank Journals?


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## pedropete

which nano fish & shrimp are you contemplating picking up?


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## CatB

i don't know if your root tabs will do any good for your java fern or your anubias. they both feed from the water column, and not the substrate, so having tabs in the substrate probably won't help a lot. i'd dose flourish comprehensive, it seems to have generally pretty good results.


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## Aben314

Tank looks great!

I like it a lot.

What exactly was your "budget" for this project? I'm looking to start something similar of my own.


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## ArchimedesTheDog

Other than the water tests, I have spent about $95, and that's with the Cyclop-EEZ I got talked into, and all the equipment like gravel vacuum etc that I got rid of years ago.

I did a 2-gallon water change with filtered water from the store tonight to try to improve some of that water condition and put the fluval prefilter on the filter intake. I've seen enough material get sucked into the tube and be caught to feel this may affect water quality, but we'll see how it goes. 

I am not sure what to get for livestock, the LFS I like has *lots* of nano fish and shrimp that come and go all the time, there were some really beautiful dark rasbora-looking things last time. I was hoping to get something colorful and small for both. I was originally considering Amano for the shrimp, but the Oto is really taking care of the algae, so I'd like to get a something to pick that prefilter clean.


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## ArchimedesTheDog

CatB said:


> i don't know if your root tabs will do any good for your java fern or your anubias. they both feed from the water column, and not the substrate, so having tabs in the substrate probably won't help a lot. i'd dose flourish comprehensive, it seems to have generally pretty good results.


Huh, I had assumed the tabs just slowly leached into the water column. Something new every day!


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## ArchimedesTheDog

Today, the Black Skirt Tetra left. Thanks, Peter! Best of luck to you! 

My wife named him Peter.

Anyhow, today Peter went back to the store, and I brought home two Clown Killies, a group of four Galaxy Microrasborae, and a Cherry Shrimp. I also removed the dying Anubias from the back corner and put a small ball of Java Moss there, tucking it under the driftwood until it takes hold.

The Killies are hanging out at the top of the water so far, like little sharks with fins above the water. I'm a little worried about them, but supposedly they are top dwellers. The Galaxies are hanging out behind the wood as a group, and the Cherry is happily puttering away. Lefty the Oto is as indefatigable as always.

I also dosed a medicine dropper full of regular Flourish before adding the fish.










The window is reflected in the tank, that's the grid thing.


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## CatB

ArchimedesTheDog said:


> Huh, I had assumed the tabs just slowly leached into the water column. Something new every day!


i'm not sure, that's more of a guess than a from experience thing. but your substrate looks fine enough that i'm not sure how much of the fertilizer would get through it. what i do know is that people usually use root tabs for heavy _root-feeders_, and not plants that feed from the water column.


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## Overgrowth

Have you ever considered Ember Tetras for this tank?


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## ArchimedesTheDog

Well, with all the fish in there now, plus the crabs I will add this week, I am keeping an eye on the load. The embers are nice, but the Galaxies are also orange and I like variety.


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## aweeby

> Huh, I had assumed the tabs just slowly leached into the water column. Something new every day!


It'll do some good, but not terribly much. It's like feeding cat food to a dog: he'll eat it, but it's not really suited. I would save them for another time. Get some vals, swords, or crypts in there and they'll start to appreciate it much. roud:

Most of the plants you have in there atm are pretty tough buggers. I keep anubias, moss, and java in a little tank with just inert pea gravel and indirect sun. No ferts. No lamps. No problems. I wouldn't hassle with flourish atm. These guys will be pretty frugal consumers in the conditions you have. If anything, macros would be more beneficial if you're going to dose something (and that's kind of just icing on the cake)


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## Overgrowth

Whoops, I didn't see the 2nd page. Forget that last post


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## ArchimedesTheDog

Doing a little more research, here. I'll be adding two Thai Micros this week (the original has presumably died, the Black Skirt Tetra was harassing it). I'm wondering if this is going to be a sufficient cleanup crew. LFS recommended another cherry shrimp if this one survives, but upon reading they may be competing with the Oto for Algae -- what I want are gravel pickers/detritus cleaners, the Oto has the algae under control, and the ramshorns are backing him up.


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## ArchimedesTheDog

Video from Saturday night: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mWWbLx3ENrU

Last night I was witness to snail sex, therapy is required. I might start plucking the snails out, I already feel like I have a lot of snails for the tank size.

The Galaxies are really active and fun, now. I *think* I have three males and one female, but hard to tell for sure. One may be just lighter in color, I have seen photos of some Galaxies that look really very blue, these are more blackish.

The Clown Killies just stay stuck to the water line: one likes hanging out in the tangle of the Water Sprite, the other stays where the water comes rushing out of the filter, trying to eat particles that get missed by the filtration. They aren't bothering anything, but they aren't much of a "presence" in the tank.

The Cherry Shrimp swims a lot, and spent part of yesterday resting in the Water Sprite. He also bumps into the Galaxies a lot, for some reason.

The Oto has completely ignored peas and beans and Zucchini, now. He mostly ignores algae tabs save the occasional nibble, and the shrimp ignored the algae tab and the zucchini yesterday. I put a fresh algae tab in this morning to replace the one that disintegrated and got vacuumed out.

I did a 1-gallon water change yesterday. GH is now 10 and KH is 5, down from 16 and 8. pH is still higher than 7.6. I want to get a ~20-gallon tank later this year, but my poor tap water quality worries me. RO/DI hardware is not practical for me, but buying 5-10 gallons of water a week for changes seems very wasteful.


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## ArchimedesTheDog

More news from the front.










I was giving way too much light to the tank, so I got a timer. Because I check the fish in the morning and do the water quality then, I have the light on from 6-7 and 3-10:30, now.

Speaking of too much light, a couple of the Anubias are developing Black Brush Algae. I am dosing Excel directly onto it once a day, but since a daily Excel dose for this tank is .5ml only, I doubt it's going to go very quickly. 

The Red Cherry Shrimp swims around a LOT, and doesn't spend as much time on the gravel as I anticipated. I am trying to figure out if there are more enthusiastic gravel-cleaner shrimp, though the RCS is very pretty. Years ago I got a ghost shrimp for my Angelfish tank, and the catfish I had in that tank ate the shrimp as soon as it hit the water. I'm happy to be able to enjoy watching a shrimp thrive, now.

The Clown Kilifish pretty much hang out at the water line and are boring; every so often they swim down a bit (more when the lights are off), but then return to the top immediately. One hides in the floating water sprite, the other hangs out on the opposite side of the tank. They gather together only when I change the water. They swapped territories yesterday, too, oddly. Not my favorite use of the bioload, to be honest.

The Celestial Pearl Danios are really, really fun to watch. I have a good colony of nematodes in my filter, now, and every so often a nematode comes flying out of the outflow and tries swimming away. The Danios have figured this out and hang around below the filter, snapping most of the worms up before they make it to the gravel. Kinda funny. No wonder the CPDs haven't seemed hungry. The rest of the time they explore, chase each other, and pick into the gravel. Love these guys.

The Oto has been very very active, rarely stopping in one place, and he occasionally chases one of the Celestial Pearl Danios around for some reason. He has started to nibble on a TetraVeggie tablet after it has been in the tank for a day or so, but very halfheartedly. I am a little worried about him, I hope it is pointlessly so.

I seem to have brought a pond snail in with the Java Moss. I found and removed her after watching for her all evening, but I am worried she left me a genetic legacy.

Next week I will add three Thai Micro Crabs. The LFS didn't get them this week as planned.

I definitely seem to have a lot of mulm and other signs of trouble in the tank, such as the BBA, burgeoning nematode population, cloudy-ish water, high pH... I have resolved to go four days without feeding, but not sure it's going to be a real cure for anything. 

I am giving daily Excel and twice-weekly Flourish, now. I have new leaves on two of the Anubias, and the Water Sprite is sending out shoots. The Java Fern is fine, if not really looking like it is growing at all. Java Moss is less than a week in the aquarium, but it seems to have released a few loose tendrils today that floated around the bottom a bit. There is also some other tiny plant that came mixed in with the Water Sprite. I have left it floating but it doesn't seem to be thriving. It was out of the water for a couple hours after I got it home, I didn't see it in the bottom of the bag until I went to throw the bag away.

*Mystery Plant:*


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## ArchimedesTheDog

This is hilarious. The Thai Micro Crab is alive. Apparently, he just never _ever_ comes out of the driftwood any more, or at least not while I am watching. The Shrimp was hiding this morning, and while I was inspecting the driftwood to see if he had found a hole big enough to enter, I noticed the crab's legs sticking out of a crack the way they used to. I thought maybe his carcass was finally drifting. 

Then he moved. 

It was like an aquarist horror movie. So now I still want to get more crabs, and I am hoping they will coax him out somehow. Maybe he will feel like he can explore again since the Black Skirt Tetra is gone and he has buddies.


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## FlyingHellFish

Cool tank, I like the rock at the side. Think about adding a bit more, although it is a 5 gallon, it looks really empty for some reason.

I had some black brush algae on my Anbias and a few Amano Shrimp took care of it. I find the Anbias nana to be really hard to clean once infected with algae, you can always cut off the leaf and start a-new. 

Even though you have low light, why not add some moss? They grow great in low light and are very hardy. I suggest the taiwan moss as it grows the fastest and is great on drift wood.


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## ArchimedesTheDog

Thanks, I have been trying to find an interesting rock or a very small piece of malaysian driftwood to go behind that central stand of Anubias. I found a small end of driftwood at one store, but it was a boring lump. I haven't seen Taiwan Moss locally, I'll have to look around, but it might be cool to get a ~3-inch piece of mossy wood there. 

I had been considering an Amano shrimp, but people say they resort to BBA last, and I hate to give my Oto too much extra competition for the rest of the algae. I should probably just bite the bullet on it. I have a 1.5g stashed in the basement that might get set up as a shrimp and moss tank, I could always put the Amano in this tank and then move him to that one, too.


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## ArchimedesTheDog

I came home after 3 days away. Everyone was alive, and the Crab was out and about until we started moving around in the living room, then he buried himself in the Java Moss. Shy little guy.

I vacuumed out nearly two gallons of water and added more. Man, there was a LOT of mulm in the water. I also got out the pond snail, who got HUGE over the last few days. I had removed one pond snail before I left town, and tried to get the second but he was hard to grab. The Amano Shrimp I got last week is not very active, however: he _may_ be resting but I also wonder if he is not faring well. Also, he has eaten basically none of the Black Brush Algae, as I feared.

I also discovered that I have a lot of Hydra all of a sudden, stuck to the glass and floating free. The CPDs ignore the Hydra but still go after any Nematodes they see. Great.

To be honest, the Hydra were a little disheartening to see. Not sure I can keep this tank clean enough, I barely feed, change 2 gallons once a week and 1 gallon twice a week, and still have lots of water issues. At least the fish are alive.

I added Flourish Iron to the dosing and am boiling a new rock and a new scrap of wood while I write this: I visited Pet Kingdom while I was in San Diego and picked those up. Without testing for it, I have NO idea how often to dose the Iron, I guess I'll have to get yet another test!


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## ArchimedesTheDog

I added a rock, a small chunk of driftwood, and two Micro Swords (novaezelandiae). Guy at the aquarium store said they grow slow, Internet says fast. I guess we'll see. *Input please: is that sword too close to the filter intake?*


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## ArchimedesTheDog

I woke up the next morning to discover that one of the micro swords had uprooted itself, so I took the opportunity to replant them all, fanning both of the clusters more, based on advice I had read, and splitting one of the clusters into two parts. I am not convinced these are actually _novazelandiae_, as the leaves aren't totally round. That said, it doesn't exactly look like photos of _brasiliensis_, either.

When I uprooted the second cluster of swords, the crab was hiding behind it, then he jumped on the mini wood piece, which I had to move, so it was a traumatic experience for him. I doubt he is ever coming out of the big driftwood again.

I am going to do a severe water change tonight, then I plan to dose with fenbenzadole for the hydra. I am completely incapable of measuring the .25g of the stuff that I need, however, so I am not sure how to approach the dose.

I feel I have room for another plant over on the left, I kind of want something that will be a good grower for nitrate consumption. I thought the water sprite would grow more explosively, but so far it's pretty slow.


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## ArchimedesTheDog

I also started dosing Potassium. The Nitrate levels are still about 20-30, so I am holding off on Phosphate and Nitrogen.


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## Matt1892

I really like this tank it is well put together. As for the Quality of water in your tank it is odd that you are running into issues even though u are regularly cleaning. My thought is it is possibly becuase you are still introducing new fish to the tank. That or Are you pouring your LFS's water into your tank when adding new fish? I also never had a tank that small maybe it's more common. 
As for the micro swords based on your conditions is maybe what he meant by it being a slow grower. although now that you are hitting more macro nutrients into your water column that may change. 
Anubias and java ferns are very hard to kill but very slow growers and as for the algae concerns, With the addition of potassium you could potentially see a decrease as more phosphorous can then be absorbed by ur plants, phosphorous normally builds in the water column from fish foods/wastes. Algae then gets a shot to pop up. 

If potassium doesn't help think about changing ur timer slightly theres two theorys connected to a "siesta break" method for lighting The first being chloroplasts for algae require more time to start up and absorb light when compared to plants which is almost instant. Having an hour or 2 hour cool down (lights out period) in the middle of your 3-1030? (I think it was?)could potentially decrease the growth of algae as it will potentially throw off its energy production. chloroplasts then shut down and lights come back on taking the photosynthesis another 3-4 hours to be at its full power in algae(plants are instant-more complex). The other theory behind lights being out is it replenishes the co2 in the water and then allows the plants to go back into full swing absorbing more nutrients being that carbon (co2) and light are major factors to the amount of N P K ur plants absorb. The more they absorb the less is left in your water for algae. 
I heard these light theorys somewhere and personally I follow it as a method but i dunno how much weight is behind it. I think it works for me but then again I could just be lucky. 
Anyways good luck with your tank! U got me wanting to set up a micro. 

One last thing! Check the phosphorous content in your fish foods, it is algaes favorite element, most are 1 percent. (overfeeding and algae growth would then go hand in hand) :0 
-Matt


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## ArchimedesTheDog

Thanks a lot! 

I was feeding exclusively Cyclop-Eeze because that is what the LFS feeds their nano-fish tanks. The fish were not eating much of it however, and once I got some Hikari Micro Pellets they joined the clean plate club; the Clown Killies seem to only be able to take a bite out of the pellets instead of a whole pellet, but they seem healthy. Frozen Daphnia every thrid feeding, too, but a tiny amount. I give a small pinch, watch to see if it all gets eaten, then give a second small pinch. Hopefully the tank clears up a bit and I need to start adding the other macros.

I accidentally dumped LFS water with the Oto, but otherwise it has all been clean transitions.

I'll try the timer change, at least I don't think it can hurt!


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## Matt1892

Just know that you can still have the same amount of light in the tanks "day" just position the siesta break for the center of that portion. For example 3:00-10:00, would change to 2:00-5:30, 6:30-10:00. So your not taking away from the plants overall photo period. 
I figured you would have known about the water from a store but sometimes it's something simple that people miss. Anyways Good luck controlling your algae. Hopefully the break helps, keep us updated. 
-Matt


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## ArchimedesTheDog

I added crypts today, I felt like it needed more on the left, but now I don't love the change, any second opinions?

Before:








After:


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## bitFUUL

Nice progress.
Get your wife to grow Saffron, That'll up your aqua-budget!


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## wicca27

looks good. i would not over vac the gravel the mulm will feed the plants like cow poo feeds the flowers.


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## ArchimedesTheDog

No major updates. I added an Amano to help with Algae cleaning. Water quality is much improved, Nitrates now around 5.0. My pH dropped to 7.2 with a major water change Friday, but are back up to 8.0 or so today, not sure how that is happening.

I decided today to stop feeding Cyclop-Eeze: I put a tiny amount in this morning, but only the Clown Killies would eat it, the CPDs repeatedly would grab a piece then spit it out. 

This morning I managed to accidentally get the female Clown Killie into the API test tube for the pH test. Then she kept trying to swim back in when I dipped the test tubes for the other tests.


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## ArchimedesTheDog

I added a black background to the tank tonight based on a clubmember's adivce and I like the improvement.

[STRIKE]In sad news, I left the feeder door open in the canopy, and the Otocinclus is missing. Unless he has a spot to hide in a 5 gallon tank -- and I'd be shocked if he did -- I suspect he jumped out and the dog ate him. The dog eats just about anything, so a fish is certainly on the menu. I am so very sad. [/STRIKE] Update: He was hiding somewhere, because he turned up when I started feeding the other fish!


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## Matt1892

ArchimedesTheDog said:


> No major updates. I added an Amano to help with Algae cleaning. Water quality is much improved, Nitrates now around 5.0. My pH dropped to 7.2 with a major water change Friday, but are back up to 8.0 or so today, not sure how that is happening.
> 
> I decided today to stop feeding Cyclop-Eeze: I put a tiny amount in this morning, but only the Clown Killies would eat it, the CPDs repeatedly would grab a piece then spit it out.
> 
> This morning I managed to accidentally get the female Clown Killie into the API test tube for the pH test. Then she kept trying to swim back in when I dipped the test tubes for the other tests.


Ph swings can usually be narrowed down with a bucket of tap water a couple test tubes and ur tank items.
Test tube one:tap water(test water)
Now empty the test tube or use another and scoop tap out of bucket and put a small amount of gravel in the tube with it.
Test tube two: gravel or sand,tap water(test ph)
Then put in any rocks that u have in bucket and wait a little to see
Test tube three: tap water with potential rock bufferings/particles(test)
Then if none of those are responsible add some ferts to bucket usually calcium and magnesium ferts will buffer 
Test tube four: fertilized water. 
Truly it's prolly not a big deal but constant sways can cause stress on fish. 
Also if U ever aim to lower ur Ph peat pots/peat moss is usually equally used in gardening as it is aquatics. Cost cut in half for that.


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## ArchimedesTheDog

Thanks! I'll have to try that.


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## ArchimedesTheDog

My Thai Micro Crab was uncharacteristically active this morning. Normally he hides when the lights are on. Behavior changes are always a worry, but it's fun to see him, I hope he's okay. I've been worried that as the water quality improves he would have less to filter feed, maybe he feels the pressure to forage more.

I captured some video:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uEoYMwA9Seo


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## ArchimedesTheDog

I had some thread algae show up. I'm cutting back on Iron dosing to every other day and squirting Excel on it. The crab continues to be slightly more present. I added an additional Amano last week thinking the original one had died, but he was just hiding and getting ready to molt. Both of them have been really interested in the bigger piece of wood, and they ignore the CRS. The CPDs hang out most of the time behind the foreground Anubias with occasional foraging runs; they decided they didn't like the weekly frozen Daphnia this last time, not sure why. The Killies continue to go spawning around the tank, sorry the eggs won't survive the rest of the tank denizens. 

I'll do a big water change Saturday, I tried not doing incremental changes this week and am trying just the big change to see how that goes. Three a week will become tiresome quickly, TBH.


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## ArchimedesTheDog

Six weeks and 2 days in. Lots of new growth on the smaller Anubias, some minor growth signs on the large. The Java Fern is stagnating a bit, and the micro swords are pretty stable. The Java Moss is pretty, no idea if it is doing anything at all other than occasionally releasing a strand. The Crypts are melting and sprouting simultaneously.

Water pH had climbed again, I have done two 50% water changes in three days to see if I can get back to better water, my experiment with not changing the water midweek failed, basically. I am considering adding Aquaclear Biomax cylinders to the filter, maybe I should swap out the filter entirely. I have a vacation coming up and may spring for the expense after that.

The CPDs (the Dalton gang) are fun: one of the males, I call him the trail boss, bosses the others around but is actually kind of timid, and never gets as much food as the others, because he prefers to stay behind the big Anubias or under the filter intake. The Clown Killies (Needles (m) and Pins(f)) are spawning constantly but the CPDs go for the eggs minutes later. The crab is getting more active, meaning that I see him twice a week now. The Oto (Lefty) is diligent as always, the Amanos are very fun to watch (especially tugging on opposite ends of a shrimp food piece), and the Cherry Red Shrimp is kinda boring, he swims around a lot but doesn't do much to add to the fun factor other than looking pretty. The Amanos scrape the wood a LOT these days, too. Still have some Hydra and the Ramshorns are mating again. I decided not to medicate the Hydra yet because I don't want to kill the Nematodes that the CPD have so much fun hunting.


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## ArchimedesTheDog

After a few weeks with extra foam in my filter I decided to try what it was like with extra, superior bio media, so I put an AquaClear BioMax bag in the filter. We'll see how it does. I rinsed it quite a bit but it still put dust all over the water surface.


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## ArchimedesTheDog

Both Amanos molted today right in front of the glass, then sat on the log behind. Wish I had been able to see it. Last time one of them molted, they ate the molt overnight, we'll see how two go, hope the crab gets some.

The CRS hasn't molted yet, starting to get a little worried he isn't getting enough food.


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## ArchimedesTheDog

Seven weeks in, and I got some new plants at the SFBAAPS swap meet thos weekend. Too bad Carlos couldn't make it! Anyhow, I've already forgotten what the plants are, but the red leaf things are some sort of cross, and they are just camping until I get the 29g set up.

Did a water change tonight after 6 days, and the water was much less dirty in the bucket. I didn't hit the gravel much with the vacuum, so less mulm should have been in there, but it still seems like improvement from the last couple changes. New leaves on all the Anubias. Java Fern seems to be the same size as ever.

The smaller Amano has turned a brownish hue as of this morning, but he seems as active as ever. I have LOTS of tiny Ramshorn snails at the moment. Fish all seem good. The Thai Micro Crab is active first thing every morning when the light turns on, now, and fascinating to watch. I wish he was diurnal.


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## ArchimedesTheDog

I've got more snails than a French restaurant these days. 










And the Water Sprite is trying to put down some roots:


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## philemon716

just watched your microcrab video - they look pretty cool...albeit in a creepy kinda way.


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## ArchimedesTheDog

philemon716 said:


> just watched your microcrab video - they look pretty cool...albeit in a creepy kinda way.


Yeah, it can be startling when i am not expecting to see him, almost like finding a spider in the tank.


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## ArchimedesTheDog

Eight weeks in, and the tank is doing relatively well. One of the plants I got at the SFBAAPS swap meet melted (don't recall the plant name), but in general it all seems to be going well. I wish I had known how to add moss to the log before I populated the tank, but now it's too late, what with the crab living in it.


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## FISTER_

Nice tank, just wish mine looked as good as yours.


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## ArchimedesTheDog

I'm very sad, one of my female CPDs died, and I have no idea why. I moved the tank upstairs last week, which involved draining it a great deal, moving it, and then refilling it. I was pretty sure I counted all four last night when I fed them, but tonight only saw three, then I saw something stuck to the bottom of the prefilter. Particularly sad considering I was intending to move them all to the big tank soon. 

Only other change recently is I added new BioMax filter media today, but that shouldn't do anything. I didn't remove the existing media, just added more.


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