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My 5 Gallon Planted


creekbottom
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I'm fairly new here on AA but not so new to fish keeping. Although I've never done tanks like this before. Usually fish in a tank and do my best to keep the algae out... boring!!! So I've decided to change things up a bit and am using this 5 gallon to try out a whole bunch of the things I've learned by experimenting with my 10 and 20g's, and reading the endless and always contradictory info online. :huh:

This forum has been a great place for info and answers, for even simple questions. I don't know how many hours I've spent cruising the forum soaking up info.

So here goes!

5.5 gallon acrylic tank

hood included with lights

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I've never done acrylic before, always glass, so not sure how this will work out. I bought the tank used off one of the members here.

I painted the back black:

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I was in superstore one day and came across these:

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which are better than what's in the hood now.

So now to fill it!!! I think I'm going to be putting shrimp in here and nothing else. So I wanted black substrate - good luck! I'm pretty sure anything I choose is going to be pricey. I decided not to go with one of the fancy plant substrates, even though they are darker in color. Tahitian moon sand is pretty expensive if you can find it, I couldn't find it here in Edmonton but I didn't look very hard. I found this:

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It was in the reptile section of a big box store. The bag says it's all natural sand with no additives or chemicals. Here's hoping it's safe. Everything I've read so far says it should be. It's pretty fine so there will definitely be MTS going in there.

I got this:

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from a pile on the side of the road near the gravel pits west of Edmonton. It was DIRTY, but cleaned up well enough, just not crazy about the color. I did put a box of laterite down underneath the sand, we'll see.

I put it all in the tank with minimal rinsing cause it's so fine and filled it up. I was glad to see that there was little clouding of the water and no movement when I turned the filter on.

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Here I just had an Eheim HOB (also from a member) with floss to clear the water for a day. I have since drained it and am waiting for it to dry out so I can figure out a hard scape.

I have been buying plants as they come available on the board and right now they are sitting, hopefully not much longer!

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Lilaeopsis mauritiana?

Cryptocoryne not sure which

Don't know what that red striped thing is, I think it's a sword plant, I can't remember.

I have some other things I might consider putting in but I'm going to try and keep the planting list simple.

That's it for now.

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It's looking good so far!

I hadn't thought to use black sand for a terrarium. I'll have to look into that when I'm ready to change the sand in my 20g for my shell dwellers.

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Depending on what kind/if there is a reflector inside that hood that 13 watt bulb might be giving you too much light causing algae. You might want to be prepared to either switch down to a 9 watt bulb or find a way to reduce the light output of the 13w.

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To answer a few questions: Mko - those are your plants, thanks! The background is painted with an acrylic craft paint that I bought at Michael's. I painted the OUTSIDE of the tank. I think I'm going to go with cherry shrimp, I've got some already so when they start multiplying I'll move them in here. Regarding the lighting - there isn't really a reflector. The housing that the bulb is in is white, and there is only one bulb. I'm going to try the 13w and if that creates problems I'll go to a 9w.

Ok, now for the next update!!!

This is going to be a shrimp tank so I don't think I'm going to put a heater in it. I've got one if needed but I want to keep stuff out of the tank as much as possible. To that end I need something for filtration? The hood has these handy dandy cut outs to put things in the tank, and the hood is hinged. It flips up so you can work in the tank.

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I don't want to go with a HOB cause that puts it in the middle of the tank, I could modify the back of the hood but I like it, very slick. I was thinking of an internal filter but I'm still trying to keep things out of the tank. I'll probably be using a very small internal filter for CO2 dispersion but I got this off a member in Edmonton.

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It's a Zoo med (turtle filter) but should be fine for a small fish tank. I'll have to modify the intake and outtake so that they fit the tank but I'm really excited to try this out.

Next comes the attempt at 'scaping this.

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I got these rocks at Big Al's a while ago and then never used them. I tried them here but they look HUGE in this tank. In the back is a PVC tube that I'm going to use to elevate an anubias. I won't bury the rhizome but I wanted to be able lift it up, and not use driftwood in the tank. I have since gone a different route than the PVC and used a clear plastic tube.

I was in Cochrane/Canmore this week and was in a few parking lots and found these:

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Can you believe it! a parking lot? I brought them home, cleaned them up and did the vinegar test - passed! The size is appropriate for the tank so I put them in.

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Pardon the humidity I'm trying to attach some moss to those rocks now. I think in the meantime I'm going to start the L. mauritiana as well. I'll get that going and then finish planting when I can fill the tank. Hopefully in 2 weeks or so.

So the next update might take a while.

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its a good idea to leave to have that dry start the microsword and moss will greatly benefit the extra Co2 and you won't have to worry about algae. Just don't forget to keep the humidity up. Good luck. I'll be following this journal =)

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I had some time on my hands today so I decided to plant the Lileaopsis. I also want to get rid of some of the plants I've been holding onto, so into the tank they've gone!

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I put some F. fontanus on the rocks today too, I'm kinda skeptical of the F. splachnobryoides and if it will attach/survive. So in 2 weeks I'll at least have something living on the rocks.

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  • 3 weeks later...

I have planted!!! I couldn't take it any longer and decided to put plants in, they have been sitting here anyway. The moss has had over 2 weeks to put itself onto the rocks so if it wasn't ready by now, oh well.

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The Liliaepsis, I think, has rooted well enough, some of it died during the dry start. I think I let the water level get a little low though, the humidity was always good. The Sagittaria is a nice little plant, I've never used it before and it was super easy to work with.

I'm not crazy about those crypts, I might replace them. I'll give them some time to melt and regrow but I think a smaller version would be better. I have some in other tanks and I really like the look, ugh, more waiting.

The anubias I think is going to do alright where it is, I was worried it would get blown off when I started the filter but I left enough roots on it to anchor it well enough.

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and there it is!!!

I don't know what that flat topped little plant is, it came in with the crypts. I really like it and that was all I had so in it went. Depending on the crypts I may need to fill this tank out a little more, I'll have to wait, dammit!!!

I think I should have gone with glass... I'm actually not sure how I can clean this without scratching it. Any advice?

OH!!! the moss! It all stayed put! Every last little bit stayed on the rocks where I put it. I filled EXTREMELY slowly, this sand is pretty fine and moves easily so it took a long time to fill, and it's only 5.5 gallons. I left a divot in the Lilieaopsis that I need to fix but that was the only damage. I am very excited to see how this will turn out.

In regards to the filter - It works! I spilled quite a bit of water getting it installed and running though. How do you break the siphon when you open up the canister?

I'm hoping to put yellow shrimp in here, if I can find any locally. I've been thinking of ordering some but it's difficult to justify giving away an arm AND a leg for shrimp.

ENJOY!

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I don't see any pennywort (but I'm just viewing on my phone), but if you're taking about the plant mounted high on the left side, that's Aubias barteri (might be a large A. nana)

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Lol, it's not anubias but thanks for looking. Actually it's hard to see even on a full size pic. It has since stood up, looks like a nasturtium leaf except underwater 😊

Anyone know a good way to clean the plastic? I'm guessing a mag float is going to be a bad idea.

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