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I've been trying for months to set up a litle 5.5 gallon tank in my office. I want it planted and housing a few sparkling gouramis. That's all I want.

I've been trying to plant with some little crypts, those grow your own aponogeton bulbs, anubias coffeefolia, java fern, and bolbitus fern. These are all supposed to be super easy hard-to-kill plants that I've had a lot of success with in lager tanks.

My first problem was the light. Even for low-light plants, the cheap sucky 8 watt Perfecto fixture that came witht he tank was not enough for this tank. So I upgraded to an All-Glass 14 watt fixture. The tank also has a heater set to 78 degrees, and a little stingray (Hagen) power filter.
My second problem was the gravel. I wanted something smaller than pea gravel, but larger than sand. Estes carries soemthing just like that, so I got some, took it home, washed it a whole lot, separating lots of sand and grit, and put it in the tank. But apparently I didn't wash it enough, because it covered every surface in the tank with this orange gross residue. It took a lot of vacuming and water changing to get rid of it.

Now the water is all clear again and I've replanted with new healthy plants... and they are turning brown and dying off. The crypts had even put out new shoot before they started melting, and the bolbitus seems to be getting hit the hardest as it slowly turns brown and crinkles up on itself. The anubias as slowly yellowed and died. The java ferns seem to be the only plants surviving, though they aren't growing such that I'd say they are thriving. I have not added any fish at all. I've done tests for copper as well as the usual Ph, ammonia, etc. Ph is 6.8 and everything else is negative.

Any thoughts on what the deal might be?

Hoping that there must be a word for everything I mean...

Are you dosing any ferts? Your plants need the big ones C,N,P,K to live and the small ones(grouped as micros) to do well and look good. Flourish has a pretty good line of products and with a small tank it won't cost you too much. I'd recommend their excel, nitrogen, phosphorous, potassium, and the plain old flourish. Those will help a ton if you aren't already ferting.

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Critical Fertilator: The Micromanager of Macronutrients

Hi illustrae,

My advice: start over.

I would just buy some eco-complete and use that for the substrate. The crypts will appreciate it. 14 watts isn't that much, and the WPG rule breaks down when it comes to small tanks. 14W is 14W no matter how you cut it, it's not a ton of light. if you could swing something in the 18-20 watt range that would be a little better.

I would also suggest some fast growers to float at the surface to help break the tank in. anubias do better with some shading anyway. and IME sparkling gourami really appreciate the floating cover, spending a good deal of time under it. since you already know you want them as your fish, i would suggest making sure there is enough area for them to explore and give them cover.

if you want to add some amanos for algae control i would do that way before you introduce the gourami.

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Back in the saddle!

Hi,
Since you have resolved the orange gunk problem, the next
step is the plants. The 14 watt fixture that you have is
just fine and will give you over 2 watts per gallon of
light. That will allow you to grow any of the low light
plants and most of the medium light plants.
My only concern about the light bulb is that it say
"SUN" or SUNLIGHT or DAYLIGHT somewhere in its name.
Anything else may not give the results that you are
looking for.

As far as the plants are concerned, you planted them in
a sort of sterile environment. With no fish to provide the
waste products, the source of the plant nutrients, the
plants will eventually wither and die. Whenever a plant
is transplanted, physically moved from one tank to another,
it has to become acclimated to its new environment. During
that process, the large older leaves will normally yellow
and die while new ones will begin to grow. Also, the plant
will begin growing new roots to take advantage of any
nutrients in the substrate of its new home. This process
of acclimation causes the plant to use up its stored
nutrients and if they are not replaced it will die.

Without ammonia, nitrite, and nitrate, the tank won't
cycle, and you won't be providing the nutrients the plants
need for growth. Adding fertilizer instead of fish can
cause tremendous problems with algae. It would be better
to put in some fish to provide the ammonia, or do a
fish less cycle with unscented straight household ammonia.

Read about the Nitrogen Cycle in this sites FAQ and you
should do fine.
Frank


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