litesky

Hey Guys. Before I try to seriously get back in to the hobby with my 29 gallon, I'm going to first try out a 2.5 nano. Found an old bowfront 2.5 gallon so I'll be using that as the tank. I was thinking of using the flat side but meh..., we'll see how it turns out.




I wanted to see if I could get some suggestions on how I should start my tank. I'm wondering if I should go with a nice single plant foreground look or something more bushy with stem plants and stuff.

And I also need suggestions on types of plants to use in nanos. I've been out of the loop for awhile....hehe. Tank height is 9.5 inches with a 13 watter. I probably won't be using pressurized CO2, instead I'll be dosing the flourish thingy...forgot what it was called as a source of carbon.

Steven_Chong

Just as an FYI, the tall tanks with not much front-to-back depth are really hard to work with from an aquascaping standpoint. There's no room to create "depth." If you use stem-plants, you don't have the room to grow them really bushy. If you go with an iwagumi type, it feels cramped which is kind of contrary to the point of iwagumi. It's also hard to get rocks to be big enough for a balanced lay-out while still fitting in the tank.

These problems apply to this 2.5 gal, and would apply to your 29 gal also. If you don't have a really good plan for compensating for the lack of depth, I'd consider buying a 20g to try instead of the 29.

As for this 2.5 gal (and the 29 if you do use it), I think the easiest thing that would still fit in these dimensions is a tank using branchy wood and moss. Anubias nana petite and any of the small stem plants would also work well for midground or foreground (HM, HC, Glosso). You could also try a sand foreground.

Stems CAN work in a tank with these dimensions-- just not as a background plants. There's just not enough room to make a thick background bush AND build in a strong mid-ground. The stems are fine for mid-ground or foreground.

litesky

Thanks Steven, you are absolutely friggin right. No wonder I had so much trouble in the past with the 29 gallon. All right...I'll do what I can. I don't really plan on buying more things ($_$)...I'm just going to stick with what I have and work with them. It's good practice neways..sigh.

Steven_Chong

Mmm . . . it shouldn't be too expensive . . .

All the equipment for a 29gal would fit perfect on a 20 so it's just a matter of buying the tank.

turtlehead

depth can be dreated if the right plants and hard scape are there to create it.

Jimbo205

I can't wait to see what you do and how you do it.

I love step by step photos. Everyone does their Nano just a little different.

I have been very surprised to find out that not all Nanos need supplements.
(One of mine does, and one of mine doesn't.) Go figure.

Keep us posted.

litesky

Sorry don't really have step by steps. But I thought I should share something about algae regarding nano tanks:

November
Couldn't find the right pieces of driftwood so I decided not to aquascape. I just threw everything together to get some stuff growing for my next aquascape. Really old dried up eco-complete (was not used for a year and sat in the sun in the backyard), some rocks, blyxa japonica, l. arcuata, nana petite, HC. Came up with this:


December
I did as much water changes as I could with weekly dosages of nitrate, exel and flourish but it was terrible. I was sooo discouraged that I didn't even take any pictures because it was hell. (So I don't have any proof, but you gotta take my word for it). I had an algae explosion. Got some hairy algae on plants, spot algae, green dust algae. Right before new years I would say I had about 5% visibility because I just couldn't see through the glass anymore. However, I continued the dosage routine but started changing 25% water twice every week rather than 50% once a week.

Mid January
Algae problem began to recede. Glass started clearing up again. By mid-january about 75% of my blyxa died out but the rest of the plants even HC remained alive and in the end it looked like this(you can still see some of the algae on the glass):


Feburary 5
I'm a fairly happy with status of the tank. Ofcourse I'm not fond of the "looks/scape" but that was never really what I was going for. Just trying to keep the plants alive for the scaping adventure sometime soon. All the algae has completely died out and my glass is crystal clear:


The funny thing is I never used anything to scrub the glass of the tank. The algae disappeared on its own as a result of patience and persistence. SO those who have mad/bad/sad algae...don't give up. It took me nearly a month for the whole process.

litesky

Now I need some help:

1) Obvious signs of nutrient deficiency: My new growths on l.arcuata look like the one on the right especially the ones directly underneath the light.


2) My HC is growing ...under... the gravel. It also grows so freaking slow. LoL!


Any suggestions on what I can do?