# 6.6 gallon....I guess this is a nano



## Sierra255 (Sep 13, 2007)

Hi everyone. A few months ago, I decided to venture into the realm of live plants for the first time and I came across this wonderful site. Below is a picture of my very first planted aquarium, a 6.6 gallon bookshelf tank. It is 2 feet long, 8 inches deep and 9 inches tall, if I remember correctly. Specs and contents are below the picture.










6.6 gallon bookshelf
Small HOB filter that came with the kit
Flourite substrate (switched about two weeks ago from black gravel)
Hagen NRG yeast-based CO2
15 watt fluorescent light (Zoo Med Flora-Glo bulb)

Micro sword
Dwarf hairgrass
2 Banana plants
Moss ball
Anubias nana
Brazilian sword
Java fern

1 male crowntail betta
3 Otos

Ever since I made the transition to the Fluorite, I've had a few leaves melting, but it's been mainly associated with the sword, which I have read doesn't like to be replanted. So, I imagine in a few weeks that will go away. Growth has been good so far, though. And I have had a little bit of algae show up - BGA on a few leaves, some of the hard spot algae on the front glass and two different types of long, flowing algae, but it has stopped growing since I made the substrate change and added the CO2.

Anyway, thanks for reading and I'm always looking for ways to improve. Any suggestions or comments are welcome with open arms.

Kevin


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## DarrylR (Oct 9, 2007)

nice crowntail.


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## Sierra255 (Sep 13, 2007)

DarrylR said:


> nice crowntail.


Thank you. It was one of the best looking at the pet store the day I bought him. And the best part is he has a great attitude. He always swims up to the front to greet me when I walk up and he seems to be very inquisitive.


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## trfjason (Aug 10, 2006)

You might want to get a black background.

Anyways, it looks great!


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## Sierra255 (Sep 13, 2007)

trfjason said:


> You might want to get a black background.
> 
> Anyways, it looks great!


I thought about a background, but it's on what I would call a bar, and I like being able to look into from my kitchen, which is what you see in the background. I do agree that it would make it look much better from the front, though.

And thanks for the compliment!

Kevin


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## j_m_lizard (Oct 14, 2007)

Beautiful beta, and nice start on this tank.

As for the aquascape, I think it looks a little flat. maybe prop one piece of driftwood up against the other? Or just make a bit of a mound in one area or the other in the fluorite?

Keep us updated, and good luck!

-Jared


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## Kayen (Oct 14, 2007)

this tank has a great footprint.. 2 feet in only 6.6 gallons...
nice crowntail...
good luck with the plants


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## Canoe2Can (Oct 31, 2004)

I like it. Where did you find this "bookshelf tank?" I've seen a lot of them on this site, but I've never seen anyone sell them. They're kind of neat.

Also, if those dimensions are accurate (24 x 8 x 9), that would be 7.5 gallons.


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## Sierra255 (Sep 13, 2007)

Canoe2Can said:


> I like it. Where did you find this "bookshelf tank?" I've seen a lot of them on this site, but I've never seen anyone sell them. They're kind of neat.
> 
> Also, if those dimensions are accurate (24 x 8 x 9), that would be 7.5 gallons.


I found it at Petco, and it's made by Aquatic Gardens. I swore I would never buy anything else made by AG after a heater I bought for my 55 gallon almost cooked my fish the first night, but I'm happy with it. The little HOB filter is actually completely silent and has good flow, along with a flow adjustment knob. I couldn't find exact replacements for the filter inserts, but I found some Top Fin inserts that seem to fit pretty well, so I'm going with those for now.

As for the size, I could be off a little bit. I thought those were the dimensions that were printed on the box. After doing a few calculations, if you take a half inch off of each dimension (23.5 x 7.5 x 8.5), you wind up with 6.5789 gallons. I think they must have rounded the dimensions up to get 24 x 8 x 9. My theory anyway.

Kevin


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## Canoe2Can (Oct 31, 2004)

We don't have many Petcos around here, but if I'm ever in one again, I'll look for one of those. I wouldn't mind having a small tank for my office.

Actual volume for pretty much any aquarium is slightly different than the named size. Even more so if you actually measure the internal volume. Most are slightly less, some are slightly more. In this case, the manufacturer might have given a pretty accurate figure.


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## alohamonte (Jul 25, 2006)

Your tank looks great! I like the moss ball. 

I also have the 6.6 bookshelf tank. It's an ideal space because fish prefer length to height.

no hijacking the tread, just praising the decision to purchase this tank kit. 

the HOB isnt bad, i think it's 80/gph. I I use a bubble wand on the opposite side of the tank to break up surface film. The HOB is a nice size, and a 7.5w heater fits into the basket without blocking the filter media. 

Let me know how that Florabulb works would you? I traded the 15w setup for 28w Coralife fixture because of my dwarf baby tears foreground.

Nice tip on the Top Fin media... i didnt know where to get refills either... I'm considering going straight filter floss though. 

http://img90.imageshack.us/my.php?image=66tank2kp6.jpg










By alohamonte, shot with L-500V at 2007-10-15


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## Sierra255 (Sep 13, 2007)

I like the way you have yours laid out alohamonte. Makes it look much bigger than 6.6 gallons. I've only had the Flora-Glo bulb for about two weeks, so I can't say much about it, good or bad. So far I love this little tank. It's been my favorite by far, especially lately. And I've got a 55 gallon in the same room. But it doesn't have plants. Plants are much cooler.

Kevin


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## alohamonte (Jul 25, 2006)

I needed more circulation because the length of this tank plus my curio wood create plenty of dead spots, so I replaced the hob that came with the kit with an AquaClear 20 rated at 100gph. I estimated the kit hob at 70-80 gph, would you agree Sierra? 

I'm also battling algae as a direct result of the 28w lighting. I've got a strong algae cleanup crew of ottos, shrimp, and snails and its not helping. I'm going to have to go CO2 or drop back down to 15w. 

Hope you're having better luck than me... mike


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## Sierra255 (Sep 13, 2007)

I don't know what the little filter is rated at, but it does output a stronger current than I would have ever thought it would. With it being off to one side, it does create dead spots on the other side. I wish the plastic cover had a section in the middle to take out to make room for the filter. I think it would work much better in the middle than off to the side.

And I'm battling algae issues as well. I still have the 15w light, 3 otos, a few small snails that I've seen (plant hitchikers), Hagen yeast-based CO2 and algae is still a bit of a problem. I have some of the hard green spot algae on the front glass and a lot of filamentous algae. Nothing seems to eat these two kinds. Not sure what will help, but I think my plants would be healthier if I dosed some macros in addition to the micros (Flourish). I don't think the Flourish alone is making them as healthy as they could be, even though I am getting some good growth. But this is a first for me, so I'm being patient and trying not to do too many things right now. If I go too fast, I won't know what works and what doesn't.

Take care.

Kevin


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## Sierra255 (Sep 13, 2007)

Here is an updated picture. I took out the long piece of driftwood because it took up too much space and didn't look right. I also took out the dwarf hairgrass and the banana plants. The banana plants weren't growing real well and I wasn't real happy with the hairgrass. It didn't seem to be growing, though not dying either, and it was collecting algae. The only other change I may make is adding another clump of microsword to speed up the process of getting it to form a carpet.

Oh, and sorry for the annoying lights on the left side. It's light coming in from in between the slats covering my sliding glass door.

Enjoy! (I hope.)










Kevin


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## Sierra255 (Sep 13, 2007)

Here's an update, over two years later. Not much changed except for the odd plant here and there. I just did a substrate change this afternoon, as well as a rescape. The betta from previous pictures died a couple months ago, but I got a replacement, pictured below. I have also added a couple bamboo shrimp. You can see one in the middle of the Anubias in the second picture.


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## Morainy (Feb 8, 2010)

Lovely!


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## Sierra255 (Sep 13, 2007)

Morainy said:


> Lovely!



Thank you.


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## PinoyBoy (Mar 14, 2008)

Sorry about the betta. Atleast he lived a good life in a big open aquarium.
Other than that... the anubia looks very beautiful. How come your microswords haven't made a carpet yet? A carpet of microswords would look very good in your tank. I think you should split em up in smaller clumps and plant them in a checkered pattern.


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## Sierra255 (Sep 13, 2007)

PinoyBoy said:


> Sorry about the betta. Atleast he lived a good life in a big open aquarium.
> Other than that... the anubia looks very beautiful. How come your microswords haven't made a carpet yet? A carpet of microswords would look very good in your tank. I think you should split em up in smaller clumps and plant them in a checkered pattern.


I had just planted them the day I took the pictures. I bought some new plants, including the microsword, on Friday night. They were in pots so I just put them in as they were until Monday afternoon when I tore it all down, replaced the Fluorite with Eco-complete and did a full on rescape. I'm going to do a little tweaking to the layout this evening. When I do, I'll break up the microsword some more and give it a better chance of forming a carpet. I also have a Crypt. parva that I'm moving to the far left where there is a void. Where it is right now, it's going to get taken over before long.

That anubias has been with me for over two years. You can see how it started in my original pictures. It probably did its best growing in my low light 55 gallon Jack Dempsey aquarium. I just put it in there and left it completely alone. When I decided to revamp this one, I figured it was time to return it to its proper place. It's already putting out new leaves, too!


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