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planted nano 3g

Started by Guest_drewish_* , Sep 15 2006 10:01 AM

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19 replies to this topic

#1 Guest_drewish_*

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Posted 15 September 2006 - 10:01 AM

All this plant talk has me wanting to try my hand at a planted tank. I want to start off small and I want to do natives.
The tank I plan on getting is the "Deco Kit 3" :

* Compact Fluorescent Perch-Light Fixture 18W provides direct illumination over the tank.
* Dual Reef Compact Fluorescent Lamp supplies 7,400K Daylight (which simulates bright light on a sunny tropical day) on one half and the other half 14,000K True Actinic (providing blue light for photosynthetic corals).
* Rapids Mini Power Filter provides the best in mechanical, chemical and biological filtration...aerating and filtering the water every hour. Super-efficient, delivering 80 gallons per hour flow rate!
* Rapids Mini Power Filter Cartridge filters out undesirable particulate material and purifies the water with highly adsorbing activated carbon). The Bio-Insert provides surface area where beneficial bacteria work to remove toxic ammonia and nitrite.

I will change the bulb out so it doesn't have actinic. Are there any native plants that I would be able to grow in this or do they grow too large for this small application? I also plan on keeping non-native coldwater fish in it (white cloud mountain minnows).

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#2 Guest_nativeplanter_*

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Posted 15 September 2006 - 11:53 AM

Sure, there are plants that grow small enough for a tank that size. I have a 3 gallon-high that I have always liked.

However, the tank you are considering seems awfully expensive for what you want to do. Plus the expense of an extra bulb. That being said, it will do the job. However, I would be concerned that the setup seems to have an 18-watt bulb in a 13-watt fixture. Plus, the setup isn't particularly slick-looking for the price. Now, if it was one of those things where everything was in the hood... that would be rather nice. But it looks like parts you assembled yourself.

You can probably assemble the parts you want for less:
Small tank (if you don't find a size you like you can easily make one this size since it's so lightweight) $10?
Light fixture (little diy hood, or can use any bendable household table lamp!) $10?
Mini Filter (you may not want/need it) for about $8.
Compact fluorescent from the hardware store, $5-10?

There is, of course, your labor involved, but the total might be something like $38 tops, for the same type of setup. Nix the mini filter, and it's about $30. My 3 gallon doesn't have a filter. Whenever I run a filter in it, I get greenwater (I think it might stir up nutrients from the substrate too much) I've even run my 55-gal filterless for a while.

Anyway, the 3-gal was a nice little setup that E. evergladii were breeding in, until I gave them away.

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#3 Guest_drewish_*

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Posted 15 September 2006 - 12:02 PM

Sure, there are plants that grow small enough for a tank that size. I have a 3 gallon-high that I have always liked.

However, the tank you are considering seems awfully expensive for what you want to do. Plus the expense of an extra bulb. That being said, it will do the job. However, I would be concerned that the setup seems to have an 18-watt bulb in a 13-watt fixture. Plus, the setup isn't particularly slick-looking for the price. Now, if it was one of those things where everything was in the hood... that would be rather nice. But it looks like parts you assembled yourself.

Can you give me an example of some that would do well in that small tank? And maybe where I might find them.

I sort of liked the open top of that aquarium, but after looking at it some more, it looks kind of cheap.

This is the other I was looking at :
http://tinyurl.com/yyxc5l

It is cheaper, and has everything integrated into the hood. Would the 11-watt compact fluorescent lamp be enough for what I want to do?

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#4 Guest_nativeplanter_*

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Posted 15 September 2006 - 12:39 PM

It looks like it would probably do it, but were you looking for a corner tank?

I would also check to see if the hood can accommodate a higher wattage cf bulb, should you decide you need one.

I understand liking the open top. Especially in the little tanks, since some plants like small sagittarias have floating surface leaves that I think are really cool. I have a glass top that I had cut for the tank, and just use a really bright desk lamp over it. It's also lived in the window (with the same lamp) with great results.

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#5 Guest_nativeplanter_*

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Posted 19 September 2006 - 10:24 AM

Hey Drewish,

While in Wal-Mart, I saw a 5 gallon plastic tank with everything in the hood for $35. It had a T8 fluorescent bulb, I can't remember what wattage. Maybe 9? I'd still worry that it isn't enough light, but I don't know if there are any special 12-ish inch T8 bulbs out there that would provide more.

Just thought you might be interested.

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#6 Guest_drewish_*

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Posted 19 September 2006 - 10:47 AM

Thanks for looking out. Most of the all-in-one have a low wattage bulb which is why I've been looking at pieces.

I was looking at getting a acrylic cube from glasscages, but I don't know how I would filter it as the lip is huge.

Do you know of any place I can buy native plants?

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#7 Guest_nativeplanter_*

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Posted 23 September 2006 - 12:28 PM

Sorry I haven't replied sooner Drewish; I've been thinking about how to best answer.

The BEST place to get native plants is the same way as native fish - by swamping around! Next time you are out collecting, look at the margins of the waterways. The plants you are looking for are either submerged or emergent just at the edge. A lot of aquatic plants live that way, a little above water.. a little below... You just need to experiment to figure out if it can live underwater permanently. I find that many can, and many can't. Sure, it's a crapshoot, but it's entertainment at its best. (OK, ok, yes I'm extremely easily entertained...)

As for buying natives, many of the plants you see for sale in the regular fish stores are native. What you want to do is to see which ones you like, and look them up to see where they come from. You can search in www.natureserve.org for a species and it will tell you if it occurs here naturally, and even which states it grows in. There is a website out there where I have been able to limit my search for native and obligate wetlands plants. I can't remember the website though!

Hopefully, this helps a little?

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#8 Guest_nativeplanter_*

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Posted 23 September 2006 - 12:41 PM

I remember it now. It's a USDA website:
http://plants.nrcs.usda.gov

You can limit your search to plants that are forbs, native to the us, and obligate wetland species. The results won't all be species that can live underwater, but it's a start.

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#9 Guest_Irate Mormon_*

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Posted 23 September 2006 - 03:05 PM

Thanks to that website, I now know what pickerel weed looks like, and where to look for it :-)

I have found the site very useful in the past. I have an interest in wild edible plants and have gotten a lot of good information from there.

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#10 Guest_drewish_*

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Posted 27 September 2006 - 09:35 AM

Thanks for the info Laura.

I'm still looking for the "perfect" aquarium. I have a 5 gallon acrylic but the hood can only take a 8 watt max bulb. I'm not rushing to do this immediately as I have other tanks that I'm working on setting up at the same time.

Once I get the tank, I will be back asking questions as to what the ideal setup would be for the plants that I want. I noticed that you are fan of using soil which I've never done but would be willing to try. My last planted tanked failed miserably when I used a fluorite/gravel mix as a substrate and bush algae took over. I think that the algae came in on a piece of wood though but just blossomed.

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#11 Guest_nativeplanter_*

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Posted 27 September 2006 - 09:51 AM

Yeah, algae can be tough sometimes. Don't let it discourage you from keeping driftwood, though. You can get it from anything - spores seem to be airborne.

The soil isn't too hard to do. Let me know if/when you want to try it and if you have any questions.

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#12 Guest_bearskookums_*

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Posted 22 November 2006 - 03:22 AM

I had a nano open top tank and had the problem of water evaporating pretty quickly...and I had to constantly add water and it was fast creating lime stains on the tank...anyone had this same problem with open top tanks?

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#13 Guest_nativeplanter_*

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Posted 23 November 2006 - 08:49 AM

Sure. Thankfully, I have very soft water here, so no lime stains. It might help if you use a little rainwater for your makeup water? It won't have minerals in it. (But don't use straight rainwater as the only water in a tank, unless you have other mineral-supplying elements, like soil)

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#14 Guest_drewish_*

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Posted 29 November 2006 - 02:20 PM

I bought a used 30" Coralife 65W compact fluorescent strip from a guy on craigslist. He used it for a month on his planted tank but tore it down. Just installed it Monday night so we'll see how the grass grows this week.

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#15 Guest_drewish_*

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Posted 23 January 2007 - 06:04 PM

I finally got my 3g tank, but decided to do the eclipse system with the standard fluorescent. In the end, I really only wanted to do a low-light setup that would support java moss and java fern. This is perfect for the fish that I want to keep.

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#16 Michael Wolfe

Board of Directors

North Georgia, Oconee River Drainage

Posted 24 January 2007 - 12:03 PM

My wife has an eclipse six that she keeps in her office. Just has some java fern and some other plant (can't remember it's name... has a heart shaped leaf... tuberous root.. .grows well in low light... has a flower stalk occasionally that looks like the "peace lillys" that they sell as house plants sometime). Anyway it has been a good tank for grouwing plants, not growing algea nad keeping a F.cingulatus happy.

MW

I finally got my 3g tank, but decided to do the eclipse system with the standard fluorescent. In the end, I really only wanted to do a low-light setup that would support java moss and java fern. This is perfect for the fish that I want to keep.

Either write something worth reading or do something worth writing. - Benjamin Franklin

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#17 Guest_bearskookums_*

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Posted 03 February 2007 - 04:59 AM

Hey Drewish...glad you got your tank...please post a pic when you get a chance...what fish are you gonna put in there?

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#18 Guest_drewish_*

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Posted 03 February 2007 - 11:00 PM

I really haven't aquascaped it yet. Haven't really had time to do so. But here is a quick pic I snapped a couple of nights ago. Current occupants are groups of :

bluefin killes, Lucania goodei
least killifsh, Heterandria formosa

tank.jpg 28.21KB 3 downloads

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#19 Guest_bearskookums_*

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Posted 03 February 2007 - 11:05 PM

Hey that looks just like my 5gal...same tank I guess different size...same substrate too...except my java moss is not as lush as yours...did they grow on the lights that came with the tank hood?

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#20 Guest_drewish_*

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Posted 03 February 2007 - 11:42 PM

Hey that looks just like my 5gal...same tank I guess different size...same substrate too...except my java moss is not as lush as yours...did they grow on the lights that came with the tank hood?

The one on the left was purchased from a LFS. I think it may be willow moss though.

The one on the right was a cutting of a bundle that I grew out in my 29g that has 65w compact fluorescent. But it continues to go nicely, just not as fast, in the 3g.