B76

Lmao. Clown pleco 5 inches? Maybe in like 5 years, and I highly doubt your book shelf tank will be up for the clown to reach mature size. I'm just saying you have an interesting floor plan for a small tank. and I think it was a smart choice and in my opinion u should entertain some unorthodox ideas of stocking and planting as you have a lot of "useful" space. I'm not trying to step on any toes. Just am huge fan of the tank and I stand by my school of ottos like 2-3 or if u had some anubias or some cool leaved plants to add some hiding spots and your cool pots and cups or what ever a dwarf algae eater or ottos would be in heaven considering there coming from a Lfs "assuming" usually crowded abused fish. But i respecr your oppinion i mean look you have an awesome tank already. your right I'm sure in aquarium books it'll say that would be overstocked. Just my 2 cents.

kafkabeetle

How do I know I'll want a 5 inch clown pleco in 5 years? Personally I stock for the adult size of my fish. I'm young and probably going to move numerous times in the next 10 years, so I'm not going to commit to anything I'm not certain I can handle. That really isn't meant to be a jab at you, btw, it's just the situation I'm in and my comfort level. I care a lot about the health and wellness of every animal I take in. Like really, you should see how much my dog's food costs, haha.

I realize I have some extra space here and that's why I got the tank. I don't really get why tall tanks are sort of the standard these days. I mean, fish swim horizontally. Maybe it's because people don't have enough horizontal space in their houses?

Anyway, I definitely think there would be "space" for those additions, but I'm more concerned about water quality than space right now. With the plants if I get everything into a good balance I might be able to manage a few more fish but I want to make sure everything is smooth sailing first. I've never had anything more sensitive than a betta in a tank this size (gallons-wise) before so I'm being cautious. I also don't really have a place to put any extra fish if the additions to this one don't work out for whatever reason and that makes me a little uneasy when we're talking about stretching the limitations of the tank.

I should also mention that it's already pretty lively in here. My betta is the spazziest I have ever seen. And the pygmy corys are pretty active too.

EDIT: I'm REALLY loving these corys! They're probably my favorite fish purchase ever with otos as a close second. I might actually get a few more several months down the road. Their behavior is very interesting to me. And I'm thrilled that my betta is pretty much ignoring them. At night sometimes I actually see him hovering around the corner where they are gathered like they're all buds. ;p

EDIT 2: What the hell, I'll edit one more time. xD B76, your comments have got me thinking (consequently I didn't get much work done today and instead studied fish all afternoon ;p) and I have a better plan for this tank, I think. 1. Because I've found that I pretty much have to overfeed my betta every day I feed the corys to ensure that they get some and that doesn't really seem suitable long term; and 2. I was originally planning an "asian" style tank with emersed lucky bamboo for this set-up (a la this video), but when I actually started working with the 6.6 in person it seemed the bamboo would look strange with the proportions, and limit what I could do/what would look good, so I took a totally different approach. I still like the idea though.

SO, sometime in the future, (probably in the summer because I'm going to be moving probably cross country and don't want to deal with moving two tanks) I'm thinking about switching the betta out for a sparkling gourami, which is smaller and would allow me to add a few otos as well. Then I want to start up a 5-ish gallon tank dedicated to my betta (so no one has to compete for food with his pig butt) and I'll do the lucky bamboo business I was thinking about before.. Idk, this is an initial thought and I haven't looked too deeply into it yet, but to me is sounds promising enough. Ideas and comments are welcome.

I'm thinking this tank or something very similar, and deinfitely rimless.

kafkabeetle

Just a quick update.

This is a view from my computer desk in the room over.


The bacopa caroliniana has been doing really well. I let it float until each stalk developed some roots to help anchor it. Yesterday I was able to plant the last of it. A few very happy stalks have developed a slight pinkish blush on the growth tips. The older growth isn't looking so hot, and was getting some diatoms on it for a while, but it seems to have dissipated now.


The c. parva and c undulata are doing nicely too. The picture really washes it out but the red on the undulata is getting more intense by the day.


My java fern isn't too happy. Not sure if it's the Excel or the higher light but it's developed brown splotches on some of its leaves and clear leaf tips. I removed the pups from its leaves and am trying to grow them in a separate tank for now, in case this plant goes south. I'm looking into a different plant to grow there, that would appreciate the lighting more but I'm not coming up with anything...suggestions are welcome.


My aponogetons keep melting. I might remove them soon. Suggestions on what to replace them with are welcome as well. I was thinking maybe c. spiralis since I've had such luck with crypts and it's a pretty similar looking plant.


Oh and I took out the java moss after I tried to rinse it in the sink and it turned brown. Can't say I really miss it getting full of debris and needing to be cleaned every couple of days!

cableguy69846

Looks good. As for the Java Fern. Are you dosing the water column at all? That should help the plant out a lot. For the Apons, I would go with the crypt instead. If the Apons took off, they would take over your tank really quickly. Looks good so far, keep it up.

kafkabeetle

Yeah, I've been dosing API leaf zone and a micro nutrient supplement twice a week (after water changes). I'm really suspecting that the java fern is just getting too much light.

I've had these aponogetons in a fish bowl before (they're the bulbs you can buy in the Wal-Mart fish section. ;p ) but I guess it's a mute point because they're aren't doing so hot anyway. I'll probably rip them out soon.

I found out in another thread that the crypts I have in the foreground are a larger species than I thought, and each new leaf is coming in taller than the one before, so they're probably going to outgrow their position. Folks have identified them as c. walkeri, so I think I'm going to eventually move them to where my c. undulata are, and then scoot the undulata over a bit to the left. Then my plan is to put the c. spiralis behind the pots and some c. willisii in the foreground. The tank is getting quickly overtaken by crypts. xD

cableguy69846

I don't think it is too much light. I have some Java Fern under medium/high light, and the only thing it does is stunt the growth a bit. The leaves will stay a bit small. I really think you are looking at a nutrient deficiency of some sort. It is just hard to tell what it is.

kafkabeetle

Ok, the Leaf Zone contains potassium and iron. Then I'm also dosing Nutrafin Plant Gro, which contains nitrogen, boron, copper, iron, manganese, molybdenum and zinc. Since they both have iron in them, could I be overdosing it? Is there anything important missing? My plan is to just get some Flourish Comprehensive when these run out but I didn't want them to go to waste in the mean time.

Btw, the leaves aren't actually melting, just turning brownish in some spots. Idk if this kind of plant which has rather thick leaves doesn't actually melt away or what. But the brown leaves appear to still be growing. I'm not sure if that helps narrow it down at all.

Oh, and a kind of unrelated issue with CO2 equipment-- is there a standard airline tubing size? My plan was to get this tubing, this glass diffuser and this check valve, but I'm not certain they will all fit together. I'd like to order in the next couple of days but I'm a little nervous about the parts fitting together like they should.

cableguy69846

In my experience the Nutrafin PlantGro is a good source of micro nutrients. From the sound of it the other one is lacking some macro nutrients. You may want to look into that a bit. The PlantGro is really good stuff in my opinion. You may want to look into something else for the macros though. Leaves will melt, but it takes a while. The brown spots will slowly spread until the entire leaf is affected by it.

As for the CO2 equipment. There is a standard tubing size, but I can't remember it off the top of my head. You should be good with those 3 items though.

green857

Couple of thoughts coming from a slightly different angle.
Java Fern: was it shipped or chilled in any way the spots could be freeze damage, that shows up after a few days. Or possibly something like that???
I doubt its light damage, I have J Fern surface floating under multiple lights with no damage.

Somehow the tank doesn't look "cycled" or something, it looks sterile. (from an environmental standpoint I'm not making a design comment )

Maybe pick up some Frogbit which is good for absorbing excess nutrients and usually carries lots of microbes in its roots. Plus its easy to remove and keep to a minimum if need be.
I've found that wood really helps too (waterlogged pieces that is).

I'd even lay of the extra fertilizer, just see how things go, your Betta should supply plenty of fertilizer.

Lastly you might try experimenting with lowering the water level, the plants will probably grow faster, as the water blocks quite a bit light. The extreme is the "swamp" method of starting plants like glosso in muddy soil.

Please take the above with a grain of salt just suggestions/ideas/opinions.

Really the great thing about fishtanks is there's no one way to maintain one!

kafkabeetle

Well, the java fern was moved from another tank I had running for about six months prior, so it hasn't been shipped anywhere or been outside. I have taken it out and hosed algae off of it before, but that was over a month ago. The tank's only been set up for a month now, so that's probably why it looks sterile. I cloned the cycle on my previous 10 gallon so it's been ammonia/nitrite free for a few weeks now (it did go through a mini cycle at start up). I'm curious what made you think it wasn't cycled just by looking at it. ;p

I appreciate all of the advice.