Llj's 2.5g Planted Tank Journal

[lljdma06]

i was also wondering what sort of heater and filter your suing for this set up? i'm doing what i love to do and reasearch every possible setup before i jump at it. probably my favorite thing to do, other then setting it up.

No heater, but I live in South FL. In winter the temperature will dip to the upper 60s in the house for a few days, but the corydoras would actually welcome that. Inthe Summer, tank stays room temperature, which is about 77 or 74, depending on who is in control of the thermostat (for the past few weeks, it's been my sister, and she doesn't like cold). When my mother's incharge, it dips to 74.

I have two Red Sea nano filters for this tank, but I like heavy filtration.

I just received the new bulb for this tank, so I'll hook it up. I hope I like the color temperature. I tend to not like 6500k.

llj

 

[lljdma06]

What a difference a new bulb makes! Tank is much brighter, and I may get some good plant growth.

Catfish are doing very well. Of the purchased catfish, I've only had one loss, a C. habrosus. No disease, but it was rather thin. I remember one fish got jossled around a bit, and perhaps its stomach was damaged in the way that an oto's can be. It never put on weight, unlike the other catfish, all of which have put on some weight. Some have even grown a bit.

Sex ratios now, are hard to determine, so I have to wait a bit on that.

llj

 

[goin_all_out]

out of curiosity, how many of the little corys do you have in the tank?

 

[lljdma06]

out of curiosity, how many of the little corys do you have in the tank?

The stocking in this tank is not for beginners. I have 9 C. habrosus, and about 10-12 C. pygmeaus (They never stand still long enough for me to count). That being said, they are extremely small fish 1/2" to 3/4" in length, and there are two HOB filters in the tank. Water is changed 2-3 times a week. Eventually, the tank will house a reduced number when the habrosus are moved to a 10g for breeding. You have to be extremely careful with this kind of stocking, and have to be up on things.

llj

 

[lljdma06]

Time for an update. For a more picture-heavy thread with more dancing catfish, take a look at the thread in the corydoras section. I added some sand samples I'm considering for my 10g breeder and so far, I really like this look. A mixture of 1/20" and 1/40" inert sand. The sand isn't as fine, and it almost has the consistancy of tiny rocks. Extremely easy to rinse!!! The corydoras have no problems bull-dozing their way through it, and it is even more gentle on their barbles than what I had before, which was gentle too. Most of this will sink over time, but I think I'll eventually swap out the substrate for sand when I get the sand for the 10g. I like the light look for the corydoras, as it plays on their colors well. I removed the rocks and left a lot of bare substrate for the catfish to play in.

Forgive the algae on the anubias, the tank is located near a window, and the algae is in the process of clearing up since I reduced the photo-period, but there is still some left. It happens. As soon as the Bacopa reaches the top, I think the look will be complete. I wanted a smaller stemplant, but the Bacopa is just such a clean plant, and the C. pygmaeus rest on the larger leaves.

The little plastic rings on the top are for cultivating Salvinia minima. I started with one plant that sneaked in with a plant order and now I'm up to 9 plants. It is a great, small floating plant. So much better than Lemna minor (Duckweed). Eventually, I'd like it to cover about half of this nano.

Thanks for looking.

llj

 

[goin_all_out]

looks pretty good. although i must say im a fan of the jungle look you had before. but i do understand why you opened it up for the fish. good job

 

[lljdma06]

looks pretty good. although i must say im a fan of the jungle look you had before. but i do understand why you opened it up for the fish. good job

Well, it's going to keep changing. I was able to order some sand from aquariumsands.com and they shipped me enough to probably do both the 10g and this tank, with some to spare. So I'll be doing a substrate change on this tank next week. The sand I added already sank into the substrate, exposing the larger grains again.

In addition, I ordered my first ADA products today. I ordered some XS Old Black Wood. I was going to order some larger pieces for the 10g, but I prefer the look of the wood that I currently have, so some of the wood I ordered is probably going into this little tank. I ordered three pieces. With some attached moss or anubias and the marsilea, the scape will look quite different. Hopefully it will sink.

 

[goin_all_out]

should look realy good, im planning a simple 2.5g shrimp tank in the near future. figure xmas moss on wood with HC and Rotela rotundifolia for a back ground to hide the heater and filter intake.

 

[jacko9901]

great tank. cool cories

 

[lljdma06]

Ordered plants from Aquabotanic and this is what I think will go in this tank.

Singapore moss - attached to Old Black Wood from ADA.
Lilaeopsis mauritius - a slightly taller, easier to grow version of L. brasilianus. Should look nice in the background.
Hemianthus micranthemoides - used as a midground/background plant
Marsilea hirsuta - mine

I may or may not use the following. Depends on how the scape looks. This is for catfish and I want some bare substrate.

E. tennelus - used sparingly or in a small patch.
Hemianthus callitrichoides - intespersed with the tennelus possibly.

llj

 

[aaronnorth]

wont the lilaeopsis struggle with low light?

 

[lljdma06]

wont the lilaeopsis struggle with low light?

New species, requires less light than other lilaeopsis. Anyway, I'll see. If not, I know E. tennellus will be fine.

Depends on how tall both get. The L. mauritius grows under lower light levels, it just gets taller, which is what I want. The E. tennellus will do the same.

Edit: Oh yeah, and I am getting Blyxa too, that should do well, if the L. mauritius can't cut it.

 

[lljdma06]

wont the lilaeopsis struggle with low light?

I ordered more Blyxa just in case.

The famous package from ADA arrived. Ooooooo, drum roll, llj actually spent money for an ADA product. The old black wood is nice. There are one or two pieces that I think would suit this tank well. Three is too many, so some wood will be used for the 10g. I think it is too expensive, however, for what it is.

I think the piece on the bottom has some potential for a lovely minimalist scape. Especially if it's heavy enough. From another angle.

The others are either too bulky or just kind of blah. I'll make it work. The wood is going into a tank.

llj

 

[Biulu]

Ordered plants from Aquabotanic and this is what I think will go in this tank.

Singapore moss - attached to Old Black Wood from ADA.
Lilaeopsis mauritius - a slightly taller, easier to grow version of L. brasilianus. Should look nice in the background.
Hemianthus micranthemoides - used as a midground/background plant
Marsilea hirsuta - mine

Marsilea is one of my favourite plants. I only don't understand that they say it stays low??!! Mine are growing all the way to the top. Must be due to light, I guess?

I think the piece on the bottom has some potential for a lovely minimalist scape. Especially if it's heavy enough. From another angle.

The others are either too bulky or just kind of blah. I'll make it work. The wood is going into a tank.

llj

I am looking forward to the new wood design. You have a great way of scaping with wood!

 

[goin_all_out]

llj i think those pieces are making me drool lol im so jealous. how much they cost you?