# Newbie's Nano tank (5 gallons)



## denrama (Nov 2, 2007)

I have this marine land Eclipse corner 5 gallon tank. It used to be a fish only tank with a cave, a snail shell, a bamboo setup and few plastic plants. I got to know this site few days back and wanted to try a planted tank. Once again, I am totally new to this and have no idea what I am doing. This morning I went to local stores and few chains(pet smart, petco). I got 15lbs fluorite, a drift wood from walmart, 10w compact florescent bulb and few plants(money wort, rotala and other I don't know); are these recommend plants? I used to have polished gravel before and there is no water clouding. The fluorite is extremely muddy and clouded my tank. To the driftwood, I placed some Java moss and tied it with a cotton thread(does it grown on this driftwood?)

Current setup:

5 gallon tank(Inbuilt 3 stage filter)
Pen plax 50W heater.
No co2( I can't put any co2 in there, as the hood doesn't have space to put the tube in...) Can I use flourish excel?
few plants.


Let me know if my plants survive with this setup.....:icon_cry:


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## mpodolan (Mar 27, 2007)

Welcome to the forum! It sounds like you're off to a decent start. Flourite will cloud your water pretty badly if you don't wash it before using it. The plants you have chosen will work fine. They tend to grow fast, so they are a good choice for the start of a tank. The moss will attach itself to the wood after a while, so just leave it tied on there. Excel is a good alternative source of carbon, and it will be relatively inexpensive to dose it on a 5 gallon. Hope this helps. Keep us updated.


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## denrama (Nov 2, 2007)

Thanks for the reply, man. I really appreciate it. I really gone mad with the nano tank setup. I really liked the nano tanks of other people here and wanted to try this weekend. I have been reading other posters nano journals. I am so obsessed with it now. I spent 60$ today for plants, driftwood, substrate. Not sure how much more I need to spend to save these plants. One thing I cannot understand how these people setup plants in such a small place? While planting these plants, I really got frustrated; they just don't sit in the substrate and floats around. Do you think the java moss grows on that drift wood?


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## mpodolan (Mar 27, 2007)

I would think the moss will grow there. Java moss is pretty undemanding. As far as the other plants, it can be tricky with such a small area. That's one reason why people tend to choose smaller plants for nanos. There are a few different ways to help keep the plants in the substrate. Many people find it easier to use tweezers or other planting tools. Others leave the material that hold the bunches together when you purchase the plants on as an anchor. Just keep trying until you find the way that works best for you. I'm glad you're having fun and becoming obsessed like most of the rest of us!


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## denrama (Nov 2, 2007)

Yeah! that's what I did. First, I tried to separate plant bunch and try to plant it individually, but it is so hard. I left the binding thing that came from the store. If these plants survive, I will get to know more about other plants that these people are using. Probably, I will trade my left over substrate for good plants (I have over 7-8lbs of substrate left(Seachem fluorite ).


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## denrama (Nov 2, 2007)

I guess nobody liked my tank setup. The center piece doesn't look good. Well, I suck at aquascaping. People are really talented here. I am so jealous of all these nano tanks. Some day I will break into one of these people's home and steal a nano... heeeeeeee :icon_roll


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## Sierra255 (Sep 13, 2007)

I think that piece of wood looks great. One thing that may help make it look better is offsetting it to the side instead of right in the middle. If you keep the focus off of the middle, it will make it more interesting to look at. If you want to know more creating a good looking aquascape, read up on composing photographs. The same basic rules apply, which is mainly what's known as the rule of thirds.

Right now, you're in the same boat I was about two months ago. The best thing I've done is to just read, read, read. Then, figure out what changes you need to make to get your plants to grow well. After that you can start expanding/changing your plant list and/or equipment. 

Good luck and keep us updated.


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## denrama (Nov 2, 2007)

*Update 03/01/2008*

Here is an update. 

Many things happened during these 4 months. Plants are growing slowly. My Red Ludwiga and Moneyworts melted like butter. Rotala, Java fern, Dwarf Sag, Java Moss, Anubias nano survived. My Ghost Shimp is AWOL for a month. I cannot see it no where. Mr Betta must have had it as a snack. I recently added 2 otto fish. Mr Betta is chasing them, but I guess they will learn to live with him.

I am not sure what I have it(plant) on the left side of the tank. It is a crypt with long roots... :icon_roll

Here are some pics.

Heeeee.....

Once I switched off all lights, Mr Betta got really mad and is cruising 100 mph. It was hilarious to see him getting mad! :fish1:


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## trev (Mar 2, 2008)

looks awesome!
good job.


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## vibes_jedi99 (Jun 20, 2007)

Looks Really Nice.


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## denrama (Nov 2, 2007)

Ah! thanks for your comments. Does anyone know what kind of plant I have in on the left side of the tank? 

:fish:


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## lauraleellbp (Feb 3, 2008)

Can you get a closeup of one? I can't tell if its a stem or not?


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## jen0910 (Jan 13, 2008)

It looks good. The plants look healthy.


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## Homer_Simpson (May 10, 2007)

Looks really nice, be sure to do at least *15% water changes weekly*. I know some suggest not to for low light tanks, but if you are going to keep a betta in there I strongly suggest it. Bettas for the most part are hardy and go for long periods without water changes( not something that I would recommend and consider it cruel), but they are also highly susceptible to *Fin and Tail Rot* and this often results from poor water quality, This happened to one betta that I had which died because I decided to experiment with no water changes for a low maintenance 5 gallon hex tank. No problems, when I was doing weekly water changes. When I decided to wait a month for a water change, he developed fin and tail rot which I don't believe was just a coincidence. The tank was highly planted and he was not overfed.


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## denrama (Nov 2, 2007)

Thanks for your comments and concerns. Yes, usually i do weekly water change(20-40%), but sometimes, I can go up to 3 weeks. My betta didn't appear sick or anything. I got one more bowl(2 gallons) that is a home for another male betta(no heater, no filter). The one in the bowl is very active, but it had a fin rot. I used to do a weekly water change(usually dump the whole water out; 100% replacement). I am planning to convert this into a planted bowl, but I don't know what I can do with the filter... Does a red sea compact filter work on this bowl(bowl had a curvature). 7.5 watt heater(hydor?) does seemed right for this bowl.


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## FrostyNYC (Nov 5, 2007)

Immense improvement. WTG.


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## denrama (Nov 2, 2007)

*3 weeks vacation. What to do with fish?*

:icon_cry::icon_cry::icon_cry: Guys, i will be on vacation starting this Sunday for 3 weeks. What to do with my fish? No one will be at home. I have 2 ottos and 2 bettas. 

I want to return ottos as I got them a week ago.

Bettas should go into a friends house, but I wanted to know if it is too much to leave bettas at home for 3 weeks? I know it sound crazy, but bettas have a history of going without food for a week or so... :icon_roll

Poor fishy. :fish:


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## denrama (Nov 2, 2007)

*Ottos without food for 3 weeks?*

Got 2 new ottos 10 days back. Right now i am feeding them a slice of cucumber everyday. There is some algae in all sides on the tank, but is that enough for them to survive 3 weeks without any supplement food? If they can't then I want to return them to petsmart. I got them each for 1.79 USD.


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## lauraleellbp (Feb 3, 2008)

3 weeks is definitely too long. Otos are sensitive fish. If you absolutely can't find anyone to check in on them at least once a week, IMO the most humane and safe thing to do would be to take all the fish back.:icon_frow


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## mahoro (Dec 18, 2007)

or u can keep them in my tank...


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## D.C._United_Caps_Fan (Mar 9, 2008)

Your set up looks nice. How is it going now? 

A few things I would recommend would be...

Lighting: At least 2-3 Watts Per Gallon (WPG) of fluroescent lighting. You can get 4 of the curly kind with the regular screw in socket type, for about 9 bucks at home depot. Get the ones called "Daylight". Their color temperature is 5,500K and that should be good for plants. You should be in great shape for most plants w/ that amount of lighting.

Plants: Easy, lower light plants are the best for starting out. Things like Java Moss, Java Fern, Riccia Fluitians (more of a floating plant) micro sword, or any of the crypts would work great, as would water sprite. Also, Place your taller growing plants towards the back, and the shortest towards the front.


Fish: If you're doing a betta tank, I wouldnt keep any tank mates with them as betta's are more solitary fish. Definately NOT 2 betta's in one tank. You might be able to get away with 2 oto's, but again, thats just going to depend of your betta. if hes aggressive and territorial, hell probably end up attacking the otos, or anything else other than snails.

I keep 1 gold mystery snail in with my betta in my 2.5G, and they are fine together. 

Good luck! Let us know what you go with and how its going!


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## denrama (Nov 2, 2007)

D.C._United_Caps_Fan said:


> Your set up looks nice. How is it going now?
> 
> A few things I would recommend would be...
> 
> ...



Thanks for your advise. I gave betta to my friend and he took care of it. To my surprise, my 2 otto's survived 20 days on their own(of course, in a planted tank). Out of greed, I recently added 4 neons(4 days back) and 3 are already dead!!  Not sure what happened, but I am not going to replace them with any other fish for now. I guess betta attacked at least one, as I saw some shredded fish on top of the tank. I also added 2 ghost shrimp(one female is dead!!). Right now I just have neon left(out of 4). I am sure that it's days are numbered. OMG! so frustrating.


I have a 10watts daylight bulb(got it from walmart for 4 bucks). So, I think I have a 2 watt/gallon. I am not adding anything (used to add seachem excel, flourish, iron), not anymore after seeing the growth of plants. I want slow growing plants.

Unfortunately, I had to flush 2 neons and a ghosty down the toilet today.


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## denrama (Nov 2, 2007)

*Update*

Update of the Marineland Eclipse 5 gallons.

Let me know your views. Sadly, Betta kicked bucket a month back, so 3 guppies called them this as their home. Along with 3 guppies, I have 2 ottos and 3 ghost shrimp


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## denrama (Nov 2, 2007)

*Update : 05/28/2008*

3 guppies, 2 ottos, 2 Ghost Shrimp.


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## denrama (Nov 2, 2007)

*Update : 06/12/2008*


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## CL (Mar 13, 2008)

wow, what an improvement. Is that green hygro? It looks great!


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## denrama (Nov 2, 2007)

clwatkins10 said:


> wow, what an improvement. Is that green hygro? It looks great!


Yes, it is. I am trimming them every week. Every time I trim it, it grows to the roof in a week.


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## denrama (Nov 2, 2007)

*Update : 09/09/2008*

No major change in flora.

Added 3 Zebra Danios. I less guppy.


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## fish_fasinated (Mar 30, 2006)

looks quite nice. love the look of the plants, thier quite healthy and very nice growth. this tank might be a little small for danios, they are quite active fish and fast swimmers. also they prefer groups so 5 to 6 so a larger tank is the only safe way to achieve this.


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## denrama (Nov 2, 2007)

I know that danios need a bigger tank, but those guppies in my tank are sluggards and always hide. There is a lot of activity once I put the danios in here.


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