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I've been lucky so far with planted tanks...I put together a 20g with minimal research that turned out nicely, a 5g with incandescent lighting that was an underwater jungle, and thanks to keithgh my 30g is now a beautiful anubias tank.

I posted recently about buying a Galaxy Light online, and that for $2 more I got a rectangular tank just over 2.5g including a filter, as well as the light.



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There is water at the bottom of the ocean

I decided this would be a new home for my betta, an possibly some sort of shrimp that I've never kept. In the process of doing a lot of rearrangingm, the betta's 5g was taken down, so I put some of the substrate (Flourite/gravel) in this tank.

Since there is no hood/cover is decided I wanted to have a piece of driftwood extended above the waterline and finally chose one from my 75g.

At this point the betta is in a temporary 2.5g hex, I'm researching shrimp, and sketching-or attemping to sketch-aquascaping plans.

All of this planning is new to me, with the other tanks I pretty much threw together what I liked so please be kind

I was told the '13 watt PL light tube' would allow me to choose any plants I wanted.

Below is a pic of the tank as it is right now. I will definitely be removing some of the substrate when it comes time to plant. I need input on a few things now...

-I have polished river pebbles/stones that I was thinking of adding...yes, no...if yes, what part of the tank?

-Leave the driftwood as it is or attach a moss?

I'm working on a written diagram with plant ideas so I'll post that in the next day or two.

Thanks for any input

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i think you should attach a large annubias to the wood and let it grow emmersed

OH TOLEEDY!

Theresa,

I find it fantastic that you created a log to show us (and discuss with us) your Nano tank .

I think that, maybe with the exception of Bensaf who comes close, none of us every had set up such a tiny tank with plants and high light, so - at least for me - you will serve as an example on how it can be done .

As you already know, the task at hand is not an easy one as I believe a larger tank is easier to set up nicely than a good Nano tank.

My first thoughts are concerning the substrate (in 2 ways):
1) I think Bensaf at some point mentioned that a "fertilized" substrate for such a small tank is not a good idea as even small amounts of ferts that leak from the substrate would "poison" the limited amount of water quickly
2) I would structure the curving of the substrate the opposite way than you did (convex ve. concave - never remember which is which) with the highest point in the middle

About your direct questions:

a) You could add river stones, at least technically. If it is practical depends on the final scape vision, including plants. Right now I would say a mound around the driftwood base could look good.
b) Driftwood with moss? I would assume that most likely not, but again it depends on the other plants.

About Dan's suggestion with a large Anubias on the wood that grows out of the tank - great idea, but may not work as your light is a clip on that is so close to the top that the Anubias might get too much heat (and shade the rest of the tank).

Well, that's it for now. Keep us posted with loads of pictures as - when all is said and done - I have a good reference to copy you someday

Have fun,

Ingo

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Proud Member of the New Jersey Aquatic Gardeners Club

great idea theresa

I've been in secret special preparations of nano tanks for the past few months, as LF said it'll be nice to see how yours works out first.

13W over the 2.5 should be enough, although SOME people said that 9W over my 2.5 wouldn't be enough to grow squat, so 13 is still probably in the low light range.

LF, why no moss on the DW? I would think this setup would be perfect for such an arrangement...

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Back in the saddle!

why no moss on the DW

It depends (isn't that phrase becoming old by now )

You see how your driftwood is consumed by its surrounding plants. If there should be solid plantings of maybe Ferns and Anubias on the Driftwood then the addition of Moss may not look too good.

I guess we will see once the plants are selected.

Ingo

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Proud Member of the New Jersey Aquatic Gardeners Club

That piece of driftwood is a great centrepiece, what about some ERECT MOSS ?

Although anubias is nice, it will grow too large
and choke the light to the other plants. The petite nana
would work though. (trying to be impartial here)

The Amazon Nut...

Theresa,

That should be a really nice little tank. I think your lighting is in the moderate range. When you get real low in wattage there is just so much intensity that the bulb can put out even when the tank is so small.

I've been in secret special preparations of nano tanks for the past few months

Nowher you've been holding out on us

My Scapes

That's a good point, LF. When you talked about sloping the gravel up towards the DW piece, rather than the way it is now, I immedietely had a vision of an amano type tank, with glosso or HC covering the bottom, with the DW being the lone high point - in which case some moss would be a nice added effect. I guess I've been looking at too many amano tank pics If she's going to plant around it with taller type plants then you're right, moss on the DW would make it look crowded.

Nowher you've been holding out on us

Theresa, have you had a chance to test out the palm filter? Is it weak enough for a 2.5?

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Back in the saddle!

Theresa, have you had a chance to test out the palm filter? Is it weak enough for a 2.5?

Nowher I bought a palm filter for my 5 when I had all those ram fry. The one I have is the Azoo 60, which has a max. flow rate of 60 g/h. It also has an adjustable flow knob. Great little filter. The one Theresa has seems to be a larger model.

My Scapes

Ok, some replies...

I think Bensaf at some point mentioned that a "fertilized" substrate for such a small tank is not a good idea as even small amounts of ferts that leak from the substrate would "poison" the limited amount of water quickly

I do have gravel that I can use and this Flourite will eventually be in another tank...like I said, lots of rearranging going on here and temporary homes

I would structure the curving of the substrate the opposite way than you did (convex ve. concave - never remember which is which) with the highest point in the middle

I really like the idea of the highest point in the middle, that's something I hadn't even considered.

As far as covering the driftwood I'm still undecided, but leaning towards 'not'. My thinking is that if the rest of the tank is fully planted, leaving the wood as it is will keep it in even more focus as a centerpiece.

have you had a chance to test out the palm filter? Is it weak enough for a 2.5?

I haven't tested it, although it's 40gph and has adjustable output which surprised me. I've started some very rough diagrams of the tank; a big decision right now is where to actually put the filter.

Nowher you've been holding out on us

Hey that's not fair! Anything you'd like to share with us? We're all friends

I'd like to stay away from anubias, crypts and swords simply because I'd like to try new plants. Going thru a few books I made a very quick list of plants I like the looks of, any input would be appreciated. What I'm thinking of right now is basically 3 sections/types of plants, no real centerpiece plant since I think that would distract from the driftwood. Here's the list though:

Marsilea crenata
Glosso
Micranthemum micranthemoides
Bacopa monnieri
Hydrocotyle verticillata

And about this lighting...2.5g tank, 13 watt flouro, 9000K...what does this give me as far as wpg?


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There is water at the bottom of the ocean

And about this lighting...2.5g tank, 13 watt flouro, 9000K...what does this give me as far as wpg?
The wpg rule really don't work for nano tanks. As I mentioned I think you'll have pretty good light to grow a variety of plants.



My Scapes

As tetra said, just consider it "medium" and never mind the numbers

As for your plant choices:

Marsilea crenata
Glosso
Micranthemum micranthemoides
Bacopa monnieri
Hydrocotyle verticillata

marsilea v. glosso, battle of the carpet plants?? It'll be intersting to see how the glosso does, see if it gets leggy or stays low.

Micranthemum micranthemoides, aka Hemianthus micranthgemoides, or HM, and the bacopa are nice small leaved plants, great for a small tank. Bacopa shouldn't grow too fast either. Hopefully you can keep the HM bushy.

The pennywort may be your X factor. It'll head for the light and spread around the surface like lily pads. Looks great, but also blocks your limted amount of light. you may need to trim this a lot. I love the stuff, it may be better suited to a larger tank unless the plants it's shading need only low light. I'm sure the betta will love it though

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Back in the saddle!

HM is a bit hefty for nanos. In good conditions, it will easily overtake such a small tank, as with most stem plants, and will require almost daily pruning. I'd suggest low-lying carpet plants such as HC and mosses/small anubia.

Well, below is the first rough sketch-be kind

Of whatever my final choices are I thought the tallest plant would go in the section I marked 'A', next tallest in 'B', and finally a carpet plant in 'C'.

I could extend the 'C' plant across to the front right corner; that's still an 'undecided'. I just want to avoid planting in that small center section on the right side where the substrate will be shaded by the wood.



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And I thought it would be appropriate to share a pic of the gentleman who will be living in this tank:



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There is water at the bottom of the ocean

The shaded area would be just the place for a bit of anubias nana petite, it gets overrun with algae if it gets too much light (to my dismay). It also won't grow too tall and has a great leaf shape and colour that complements every other leaf shape and colour, it makes everything look good as far as I'm concerned. It is an idea for something that you COULD plant there if you really wanted to plant something but didn't think anything would grow there.
Otherwise your ideas look good, you should have the triangle effect by having the taller plants on the left and so on, and having the lowest in front of the tallest will provide some depth.
I love the piece of driftwood you have in the tank, it is large enough that it won't be easily swallowed by the other plants. I love the open top tanks with some plants growing emmersed and some fully submersed.


"If you're afraid you'll make a mistake, you won't make anything."
-Family Circus

I am in total agreement with the nutrient overload in these small tanks. In any case, the current groundsplan looks quite good. However, the "B" plant might not be in the best position. With the driftwood covering the upper half of that section, whence viewed from the front, you'll only be able to see the bottom few inches of the plant, and the attractive part--the top--will all but be blocked off by the DW. Secondly, why not extend the groundcover across the entire front of the aquarium? In any case, this is my 2 cents on the matter, based off of your original design;
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v398/Kleevage/plant.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v398/Kleevage/plant2.jpg

OK,

My spin on the plants :

Marsilea crenata
Glosso
Micranthemum micranthemoides
Bacopa monnieri
Hydrocotyle verticillata

Micranthemum micranthemoides and Bacopa monnieri are very very similar plants with the Micranthemum micranthemoides being the prettier of the two. Actually, I also believe it is the more compact one and as such more suitable to a small tank. If you use it then you may want to consider it actually for the background (to avoid what Cup said about the daily pruning).

Marsilea crenata (4 Leaf Clover) has a nice leaf shape, but tends to grow rather leggy and doesn't stick out from the plant mentioned above. Not too wild about the idea.

And here is another reason why I think 4 Leaf Clover is not that good: Hydrocotyle verticillata. This plants also looks similar to the 4 leaf, just better . You would have to make sure you get the verticillata though, as the regular pennywort would grow way too tall and big leaved for this tank.

Glosso in the foreground, sounds good, but depending on your light might not grow too well or could grow out of control in no time. I know how much light you have, I just have no clue what it does over such a small tank .

So, I would say, how about this:
- Micranthemum micranthemoides in the back, from left to the middle - and forward maybe to half the tank depth - trimmed in a slope
- One Echinodorus Tenellus (Pygmy Chain Sword) in the back right. Or one Dwarf Sag Subulata.
- Hydrocotyle verticillata in the front left of the tank, with a small gap to the glass
- In that gap and all the way to the right front and middle would be Glosso

Just my suggestion and it might look ugly once it can be seen in the tank

Ingo

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Proud Member of the New Jersey Aquatic Gardeners Club

Finally a night off work so I have a few questions to ask while I'm still deciding on a final plant list:

-Being a small tank, how deep should the gravel be? I can easily see where too much would overpower the look.

-I'm almost sure I want to slope the substrate down from around the driftwood (although I haven't tried arranging it with the rocks to see how that looks). Would it be sloped evenly around the entire tank or a bit higher towards the back?

-The one plant I have definitely decided on is glosso I haven't searched back on old threads but I do remember reading that it can be difficult to start in a tank. Any suggestions on that?

-The glosso would be along the entire front of the tank, basically an area of 11" long by 1.5" deep. How many plants should I purchase to start with?

-And along those lines, is it best to do all the planting at once, or one species at a time, letting them settle for a bit before adding another?

I want to thank everyone so far for the help. And Cup I really appreciate the diagram you did

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There is water at the bottom of the ocean