lilsoccakid

just got it started up, and will most likely be posting new pics every 3 or 4 days as progress continues. will be ordering a few plants on aquabid tomorrow, so it should be filling up fast!

Stats:
-5 Gallon Bowfront
-Whisper 10 Filter
-Plain Black Substrate
-15 Watt Flouresent Light for 3WPG
-Also have a 23 Watt CF lamp, but dont like the color of the light, to much yellow

Fish/Inverts (Final list, not correct at the time):
-1 Crowntail Betta
-Red Cherry Shrimp Colony (10-20)

Ferts:
-Iron Enriched Plant Fertilizer
-Soon to be Seachem Flourish and Seachem Excel

Please comment with comments and/or ways to improve, open to any ideas!

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	rsz_5gal nano.jpg (314.9 KB, 48 views)

steveangela1

Its pretty! you can put shrimp w/ a betta? I would love to put some in our 5g w/ our betta.

Shawnie

it looks so homey...but I did read that when the shrimp molt, sometimes they are betta snacks...

Lucy

I love it, I just got a 5g bowfront for my frog.
It's going to look really good when the plants grow in.
In the mean time, maybe something for him to swim through/hide in?

lilsoccakid

this is going to be an interesting experiment i am doing. i will be very safe with the shrimp, and watching very closely until i feel safe with them together. Every betta is different, so its hard to tell how mine will do. The tank is no where near as planted as it will be when i feel its safe enough for shrimp. I plan on filling the back with pellia, which shrimp love. My betta is very calm, and the only thing he will go after are faster moving fish. I tried otos, but he kept trying to catch them.



here is a picture of some
http://www.bharada.com/aquaria/40/pellia_rock.jpg

as you can see, its very thick and lush, which the shrimp like to hide in.

I will also be experimenting with the different fert levels, which i will post in the future

lilsoccakid

thank you for the suggestion Lucy
the back left corner has a little square cave-like place which he really likes. Im trying to make my dream nano planted, while working around the bettas needs, which doesnt seem as easy as i was hoping. although at the time he is very happy with his little cave

steveangela1

My betta took to the 2 otos w/ no trouble. Which surprised me I wonder if he would be shrimp friendly?

Lucy

I see it, behind the plant? He looks very happy exploring!

Shawnie

that looks awesome!!!!!!!!!!! goodluck with it all

lilsoccakid

Steveangela1- Yes i was also very suprised that he rejected the 2 otos. I am thinking it is because he has had that tank to himself for a year. When i had a couple snails in the tank, they would go around the bottom and sides and were never touched by him, which makes me wonder. I will be very delicate with this, and maybe even take him out for a short time while adding new plants/shrimp, maybe making him more accepting.

Lucy- Yes behind the micro sword and to the left of the java moss. He is a happy camper exploring his new surroundings!

Shawnie- Thanks, i really hope this one will work out!

steveangela1

Def taking him out for a little while and then reintrodcing him after the new guys are added would be a good try.

COBettaCouple

Cool. Let's see more pics of him.

lilsoccakid

i will tomorrow for sure. sorry about the poor pic quality. gunna use my dads 6MP kodak camera with an awesome zoom lens, hopefully i can get some macro shots!

lilsoccakid

UPDATE: 6-12-08

Not much to update, as the pellia order and picture with nice camera have had to be delayed. Will try to get the good pictures as soon as i can, probably tomorrow night. In the meantime, i took some pics with my bad camera. I am experiencing a biit of an algae outbreak, and am not sure how to attack it. I plan on buying seachem flourish excel, which will help a lot. Maybe some algae eating shrimp if my betta can handle not eating them! LOL. For the meantime im going to try using a little less fertilizer.

Also started looking for some planted aquarium substrate. My two favorites are aquasoil and eco-complete. The only problem is i only need about 8 pounds, and they dont sell it in smaller then 20lb bags, which isnt very practical. If anybody has some advice or a solution, please let me know!

Another big problem i am having is finding smaller amounts of HC (Hemianthus Callitrichoides). I have only eben able to find it in big amounts for about $50.00. I only need a little bit, and want it to spread on its own to form a carpet along the front. The middle of my tank is an attempt to be a valley, which will be easier to see when i add more substrate.

Well here are the pics, which dont at all show how nice the tank really looks. Cant wait to get some high quality pics to show off!

Attached Images

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	new2.JPG (43.5 KB, 14 views)
	betta.JPG (24.6 KB, 4 views)

lilsoccakid

because my 55 gal is so understocked, i put up a divider so its about 10-15 gallons on one side and then the rest for the community. the divided side is the new home to my betta, which im sure he wont mind.

the 5 gallon now has 2 ghost shrimp, until i can find more ghosts or cherrys, then i will get about 20 total

Coryd55

The shrimp willbe fine when molting as long as they have a place to hide, like the pellia. I kept mine with ghost shrimp and corys and he did well with both of them.

Ultimately I think it comes down to the individual betta's temperment.

Cory

Iluvatar

nice betta and nice tank. I love planted tanks
It sounds like if its going to be a great tank.
hope it is. we just have to wait now dont we.
Either way its a great tank.

joy613

I got a bag of shultz aqua soil at home depot I know it was under $10 the only problem with that is it is very light weight and I ended up using fluorite with it to hold the plants.

If you are having algae problems and don't have excel yet reduce the time your light is on.

If I had some HC to send you I would, all I have floating plants if you need some of them. Oh yeah a lot of java moss.