# 5 1/2 gallon planted nano



## roccov12345 (Sep 26, 2008)

I finally got my 55 gallon under control as my first official planted tank and I was so excited to accomplish victory that I had to try a nano planted tank. This is going to be a low tech tank. I didn't feel like spending a hundred or so dollars on an official light so I decided to go with a 30 watt 6500 incandescent right over the top. We'll see how that goes, I can tell you that its bright as hell. I'm going to stay with the dry dosing EI method, with DIY CO2.

Anyway, I was bored tonight so I started the hardscaping. I didn't want to go out of hand with this one, just plain and simple. Glosso all around the front sides and middle and maybe some dwarf hairgrass to line the back......

























This pic is a little better....


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## Plowboy (Apr 9, 2008)

Never seen a tank with incandescent. It will be cool to see what happens. Gotta keep us updated!


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## roccov12345 (Sep 26, 2008)

Yah that was my same thought. We'll see what happens....


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## Murphy18 (Oct 17, 2008)

Do you have pics of you're planted 55g?


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## jharrison (Dec 7, 2004)

Why don't you just switch the bulb to one of those twisted CF bulbs?


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## roccov12345 (Sep 26, 2008)

jharrison said:


> Do you have pics of you're planted 55g?


Here she is....


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## lo4life (Aug 12, 2008)

Any updates???


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## roccov12345 (Sep 26, 2008)

lo4life said:


> Any updates???


Actually just finished up planting the tank last night. I was holding off for a bit till I could figure out the CO2 situation and get the tank cycled a bit. I'll take some pics and post up.


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## sandman503 (Feb 10, 2009)

wow, the 55gal looks great!


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## lo4life (Aug 12, 2008)

roccov12345 said:


> Any updates???


Actually just finished up planting the tank last night. I was holding off for a bit till I could figure out the CO2 situation and get the tank cycled a bit. I'll take some pics and post up.
[/quote]

Im just interested to see how the plants react to that light. Hopefully everything works out for ya!! You gonna put anything in it or just a planted tank??


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## His Majesty (Apr 5, 2005)

cool little tank. very nice. good job 
i really like these nano planted tanks that have becoe popular. they all look amazing
i want one now. lol

keep us updated


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## roccov12345 (Sep 26, 2008)

Nothing crazy, planted some glosso which I pruned from the 55. I think it looks ok for now. We'll see how it looks when it starts to grow in.



































lo4life said:


> cool little tank. very nice. good job
> i really like these nano planted tanks that have becoe popular. they all look amazing
> i want one now. lol
> 
> keep us updated


I've never tried a nano before so it should be fun. I like the fact that they are a lot easier to clean and manage. Doing a water change requires a water bottle. I love it!!


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## lo4life (Aug 12, 2008)

I think it will look good when it all grows in.


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## Murphy18 (Oct 17, 2008)

Ye, should look pretty good when its filled out a bit. Is that a crypt in the background?


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## roccov12345 (Sep 26, 2008)

Murphy18 said:


> Ye, should look pretty good when its filled out a bit. Is that a crypt in the background?


I'm hoping so.......It's actually ludwigia glandulosa (sp?) It wasn't doing so hot in the bigger tank so I moved it over.......


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## DiPpY eGgS (Mar 6, 2005)

Keep us updated









I like these litle tanks with like glosso or something in it
Pretty spiffy


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## roccov12345 (Sep 26, 2008)

DiPpY eGgS said:


> Keep us updated
> 
> 
> 
> ...


Yah, I had seen a couple over on plantedtank.net that were pretty neat; Amano inspired. I've never had too much luck with the Glosso, so this will be my last try. I can never get it to grow horizontally. It always wants to stretch vertically no matter how much light. My 55 has 230 watts (4.2 WPG) and it still reaches for the sky against popular belief that vertical growth was due to insufficient light. No matter how much I prune etc. etc. I must be doing something wrong.


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## DiPpY eGgS (Mar 6, 2005)

who that is really weird..

I hate to ask, but what light do you have over that little tank?

I had glosso growing vertically and super thick with 3wpg PC w/reflectors over a 75g.
It was such a pain, I had to get rid of it because it grew so fast.. Couldn't keep up!


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## roccov12345 (Sep 26, 2008)

DiPpY eGgS said:


> who that is really weird..
> 
> I hate to ask, but what light do you have over that little tank?
> 
> ...


The light is a 26 watt compact flourescent twist style bulb. I was running low on cash at the time and couldn't find a decent light for that size tank. We'll see how it goes.

As for the glosso, yeah man, maybe glosso and me just don't go together. In the 55 the only time it was doing exceptionally well was when it was growing vertical, I mean it was at the point where it was almost 6 inches high. I chopped it down to about a half inch, and things went sour. Turned brown, which I'm thinking might of been due to excess phosphates. Jharrison was having some of the same problems. Ahh well, live and learn....


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## ryanimpreza (Jul 19, 2006)

looks great so far.


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## DiPpY eGgS (Mar 6, 2005)

Next time you prune, uproot the plant and replant the tops for best results.

Hope that works better for you..


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## roccov12345 (Sep 26, 2008)

So I ditched the glosso and went low maintenance. I couldn't keep up with the constant pruning etc. etc., especially with the 75 gallon being high light high maint.

Right now there is a huge java moss rock and some water wisteria. No fertz, no CO2....... I need to do a rescape soon.......needs more depth perception.....


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## His Majesty (Apr 5, 2005)

love this little tank. 
i agree, does need a little re-scaping to it. but i like the growth.


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## roccov12345 (Sep 26, 2008)

Trigger lover said:


> love this little tank.
> i agree, does need a little re-scaping to it. but i like the growth.


Thanks, there are two bolivian rams in there which compared to the P's are really cute. Brings out my soft side....but you're right, definitely needs a re-scape. Maybe tonight....


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## roccov12345 (Sep 26, 2008)

Well I tore it up last night.......Looks like a mess right now but it'll get there. I'm going to fool around with it tonight a little bit......

I'm going to try a moss lawn..... I haven't seen too many if any tanks with a full Java moss lawn. I want to see if it can actually be done. I like java because it grows fairly steady, not too slow, not too fast and seems to withstand anything you throw at it. I want this tank to look neat but also be low maint. One problem I can see in the future is making sure waste doesn't clog up the floor and throw off the params. We'll see.......









Little cloudy from stirring the water up. The floor is two pieces of plastic mesh with java in between.........


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## l2ob (May 22, 2004)

sounds like something that could turn out interesting. i have seen a guy make a mini tree and grew moss for the trees. looked amazing...in a little tank like yours. cant wait to start one similar this fall once school starts


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## Brian5150 (Oct 17, 2006)

What type of substrate are you using? I'm planing my first planted tank . Its going to be a 2 1/2 gallon , probobly a solo dwarf puffer tank


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## roccov12345 (Sep 26, 2008)

Brian5150 said:


> What type of substrate are you using? I'm planing my first planted tank . Its going to be a 2 1/2 gallon , probobly a solo dwarf puffer tank


Right now the 5 1/2 is eco complete. If I had another choice, I think I would switch to ADA Amazonia....


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