New(ish) 4 Gal Nano *PIC HEAVY* - Nano Aquariums

pcgeek42 · 02-22-2012, 10:18 AM

Hi everybody! I've been lurking these forums for a good while and I've learned a TON of stuff from you guys!

Here is my main tank. It's a small 4 gallon (12 3/8 x 8 x 10) Finnex with a hanging filter and 13W (7,100k) lighting.

This is the tank with Seachem's dark fluorite substrate and a small piece of driftwood mounted on a stone slab.

By pcgeek42 at 2012-02-22

By pcgeek42 at 2012-02-22

Then I added 3 aquatic bananas and 2 red tiger lotus bulbs. I also added some dwarf baby tears to (hopefully) give me some ground cover. I bought the baby tears in mat form rather than potted because I thought it would be easier to take care of (D'OH)

By pcgeek42 at 2012-02-22

By pcgeek42 at 2012-02-22

Then I filled it. I used plastic wrap to avoid disturbing any of the plants or the substrate.

By pcgeek42 at 2012-02-22

By pcgeek42 at 2012-02-22

I added a few Amano shrimp from my other tank to keep algae under control. Plus they are just awesome shrimp to have in any tank (Even if it's not a planted tank).

By pcgeek42 at 2012-02-22

By pcgeek42 at 2012-02-22

I added a few small fish to give it a splash of color. But a few weeks after I added them disaster struck. My baby tears started to get out of control and then they all died. I was left with a brown clump of junk at the bottom of my tank. (Although the shrimp didn't seem to mind.)

By pcgeek42 at 2012-02-22

By pcgeek42 at 2012-02-22

So (sadly) I just pulled up all the junk from the bottom and threw it away. The bananas and tiger lotus are doing great though! However I have a big bald spot on the left side of my tank that I'd like to fill with something (suggestions?).

By pcgeek42 at 2012-02-22

By pcgeek42 at 2012-02-22

There's a bit of algae buildup on the side of the tank (I didn't try to clean it before taking the pics.) But it's just because I've been slacking a little bit on the upkeep. It'd be awesome if real life didn't get in the way of hobbies right?

So what do you guys think so far? This is my first "real" planted tank (I have a 10 gallon but all the plants are from PetsMart and just kind of thrown in so my zebra tetras have somewhere to hang out.). Also, if you have any advice on how to make it better I'm all ears!

pcgeek42 · 02-24-2012, 11:37 AM

Small Update

The tiger lotus is filling in fast and the bananas are looking healthy! Now I just need some ground cover.

By pcgeek42 at 2012-02-24

EntomOdonata · 02-27-2012, 08:24 AM

I've never had any luck with HC (dwarf baby tears) in any of my low/medium light tanks. You could try Saggitaria subulata (dwarf sag) or Eleocharis acicularis (dwarf hairgrass).

Emily6 · 02-29-2012, 02:16 PM

Is this the fin-ex tank kit that comes with the clamp-on lamp and canister filter? If so, I have the same one and am trying to also figure out what works well with this amount of light and no CO2 injection. I tried shrimp several times and they kept dieing. So I put a pea puffer in and he's doing OK but not my favorite. He's picky and prohibits other fish and shrimp.

Anyway, I have really good luck with hydrocotyle sibthorpioides. But that's probably not what you want as it gets very shrub-like.

Your red lotus looks really nice- I hope it stays that compact. I had trouble with those in my large tank getting really leggy.

pcgeek42 · 03-12-2012, 11:13 AM

New Update:

The lotus has really taken off, I actually had to trim it. Yesterday I added some hairgrass and 10 red cherry shrimp.

By pcgeek42 at 2012-03-06

By pcgeek42 at 2012-03-06

It was hard to photograph the shrimp. They move around so fast!

By pcgeek42 at 2012-03-06

By pcgeek42 at 2012-03-06

And a couple extras:

By pcgeek42 at 2012-03-06

By pcgeek42 at 2012-03-06

I like the way the hairgrass looks and hopefully it will fill in a little bit. I decided to go with hairgrass rather than HC or glosso because I found out I have baby shrimp! The hairgrass seems like it will give them a place to hide from any hungry fish. Any feedback is appreciated!

Topete · 04-30-2012, 04:54 PM

nice rebound from the baby tears! the hair grass look very neat!

crw.npt · 05-30-2012, 03:01 PM

tank looks great, but I would get that gold algae eater out of there and add an otocinclus or two instead. They stay smaller and are strictly algae eaters. The gold will learn to eat anything else that you put in the tank and give up on the algae.

iamivan90 · 05-30-2012, 08:02 PM

Good luck! I'm a bit new and will use this thread for advice..I wanted something like that, maybe I'll buy a small aquarium to try planting it before I do my 55 gallon..lol I dont want a huge mess to clean up incase I fail.

tuytdog · 07-16-2012, 07:12 PM

Love this! im looking around the forums, seeing where to start on a smaller tank. Can't beleive your tank looks that good with no Co2 injections! Waiting for more updates

zoo minsi · 07-20-2012, 05:38 AM

nice looking tank, goodluck with that gold algae eater they get big and mine was a total freak. tore my tank up and he was in a 75 gallon. love the lotus one of my favorite plants.
oh just wanted to add gold algae eaters can get up to a foot long.