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Np.

In any case, for the glosso, if you want an even mat, you'll probably be wanting to plant indivdual plantlets several mms away from one another. However, if you're lazy like me, you could just bury whole strands of the stuff, though with the latter method, you get black areas that take longer to fill in. Either way, though, the substrate will eventually be covered.

Being a small tank, how deep should the gravel be?

Depends on the plants. If you select plants that have a larger root system then you need a higher gravel base, if not then about 1 inch should be sufficient.

Would it be sloped evenly around the entire tank or a bit higher towards the back

Anyway you like it best

I have definitely decided on is glosso

Cups advice is right on, I also was too lazy to separate the strings I got and just planted them in the open gravel (BTW, don't get frustrated if it takes a few attempts until it stays down). Eventually they will fill in, and then some (I removed mine from my big tank as they became 5 layers deep and unmanagable - I waited too long with the trimming).

How many plants should I purchase to start with

Depends on how easily you can get it in the first place. I believe that I started with one pack only as the online retailer didn't have more of it.

is it best to do all the planting at once

A big YES, at least in my opinion.

Hope this helps,

Ingo

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Proud Member of the New Jersey Aquatic Gardeners Club

Finalizing the list this weekend...deciding between riccia or fontinallis to grow on the driftwood, any opinions?

Thanks

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Riccia is going to be a pain in the ### to get under control in such a small tank--eventually, it will grow over the hairnet or whatever you tie it down with, detach itself, and float up in chunks.

I placed my plant order last night: glosso, E. tenellus, and HM, hopefully they'll be here by the end of the week.

Fontinallis was sold out, so I decided to go with Java fern on the wood, along with a bit of Java moss. Here are some pics from last night working on that:







And a very quick shot of the tank as it is now. The only thing I'm unsure of are the pebble stones, I'll have to play around with arranging them more.



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The stones look fine you might just want to add a couple more

Looking nice so far

I like the shot where you add water to the tank and let it run over your hand in order not to disturb the substrate. Good idea

Ingo

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Proud Member of the New Jersey Aquatic Gardeners Club

Thanks

That's something I've always done, even with water changes.

Still waiting on the plant order...

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Very cool set-up Theresa, I'm jealous

My only comment would maybe be to put the stones more around the base of the DW, rather than in the corner. Just my opinion anyway, it's all amatter of personal preference.

I'm curious to see the kidn of growth you'll get with this set-up.

Also, what do you think of the palm filter? I've been doing a test run on my 2.5gal with some clippings and moss, and the palm seems a little noisy to me.

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Back in the saddle!

Nowher which palm do you have? I have the Azoo 60 and I honestly can't hear a thing. Sometimes they run quieter with the cover off.

My Scapes

Some one. Maybe I didn't put it together right... gotta check that out tonight. Thanks though.

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Back in the saddle!

Theresa,
Nice little setup.

I'll give you my 2 cents, but please keep in mind this is based on what I see and there is no right or wrong.

The tank looks kinda busy because you have multicolored gravel and multicolored rocks. I think this might take away from the nice piece of wood and plants you are going to work in. I too would put the rocks closer to the base and cover some of them with moss to downplay them alittle.

I like the positioning of the wood, but from the pic it almost looks like it's leaning against the side of the tank. I don't think it is, but it might be if your going by the pic.





My Scapes

Also, what do you think of the palm filter?

I've found it to be very quiet, especially since it's in our bedroom.

I messed around with the rocks, first separating them and going with only one color. I also liked the idea of having the rocks closer to the wood.

So my plant order arrived...great, except that the only plant not sold out for this tank was the glosso Also it arrived the evening before I was to pick up my kids so it spent ~24 hours in a pitcher of water. Surprisingly-at least to me-that didn't seem to affect it.

That next evening I did planted it very quickly. What I found difficult was keeping it anchored with the small amount of gravel in the tank. Played around with the rocks a bit to help with that and it's stayed down very well, even with my betta weaving his way thru it (new game it seems )

In retrospect the only thing I would've done differently so far is order the yellow kit instead of the blue, and even that I'm not 100% sure of. I don't mind the blue base, the the blue light is definitely blue-in the evening it gives off the same type/coloring of light as a tv.

Now I have to see what plants are available at lfs, something to put in the back.

Quick photo I took a few days ago:




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Theresa

I think it looks very nice already.

Also, the blue base doesn't bother me and seems to go very well with the blue Beta, very balanced.

Let's hope you find some nice plants at the LFS to make the tank even prettier than it already is. Try to make sure that you stick with small leaved plants as right now you for sure are creating the impression of a large tank and it would be a shame if you lose that aspect.

Good luck, and keep us posted,

Ingo

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Proud Member of the New Jersey Aquatic Gardeners Club

Looking nice Theresa Any plans to put something on the back of the tank to help conceal the HOB? But, not sure if that would possibly take away from the appearance of it being a larger tank than it is.

Jim

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Water, taken in moderation, cannot hurt anybody. -- Mark Twain

Looks Good

In retrospect the only thing I would've done differently so far is order the yellow kit instead of the blue

Paint it!

If you buy the correct paint, you could take that light apart and paint it black as well the blue base.

As far as the hob, eventually it could get hidden with the right growth on the wood. You could also hang it on the left side so it will not be in direct view of the focal point.





My Scapes

It is looking unbeliveable my 2.5 looks ........ likea 2.5 but yours looks huge in comparison

You have enough glosso to cover an entire 10 gallon, you need to seperate the glosso plantlets, at least by 3 or so plantlets, and individualy plant these. If you leave it like it is now, it will surely die or grow fugly, yes, fugly.

Thats a great aquarium looks really good.

10gallon: 8neons 5gallon: 1betta
1oto
2platys

Well, I think it's time to re-think my plans. I separated the glosso plantlets but it's not doing well at all

So I'm back to step 1 and trying to figure out what I want to do; these are some rough ideas I came up with:

-I've had good luck with C. wendtii in the past, I was thinking of removing the wood and basically filling the tank with it...maybe in sort of a 'U' shape with a small open are in the front/center?

-Leave the wood, replace the glosso-planned areas with very small A. nana which I already have

-Research into terrarium/marginal plants for something that will grow out of the tank

Any comments or other suggestions would be very much appreciated

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Theresa,

Can you specify what you mean by "... but it's not doing well at all "? That could give us some idea where a problem may be (ferts, light, or something).

Personally, I think Wendtii leaves will be too big for the tank, and so will a regular sized Nana. Your small one may be nice, but over time it will grow as well. Nana Petite is really nice, but $$$ and you would need a few to make an impact.

I would say that, if your light is not an issue, then Amano Pearl Grass could work very well. And I would also not remove the wood, it looks very nice.

Awaiting the Glosso info,

Ingo

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Proud Member of the New Jersey Aquatic Gardeners Club

Ok here are a few pics I just took; remember though that it's tank cleaning day so be kind







I would best describe the plants as not having good color, and many leaves that appear to be thin and browing which I assume means they're dying? I'm afraid if I try to pull those particular stems-even with tweezers-that I'll end up pulling healthy parts of the plants as well.

The tank light is on ~10 hours a day. It's also located near a curtained window which I can utilize if necessary.



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Theresa,

I cannot really tell from the pictures (and I am not a Glosso expert per say either) but it appears as if there is some brown algae (diatoms) mixed in with the plants. That is not bad and will go away eventually, but it doesn't help with light reaching the Glosso either.

I got serious yellowing of leaves on my Glosso when it grew too thick and I am assuming you have a similar issue. Your growth form is vertical which happens when there is not enough light (or space, maybe as well) to grow flat. And when there are too many stems too close to each other then a light source that may be strong enough for a single layer could be not enough for depth penetration and as such the lower parts of the stems start to die. I believe you received it already this way, right?

Maybe one option would be to try to lay a few of these stems flat on the ground (you can hold it down with a piece of gravel) and see if it starts to creep along the substrate.

I have to say that I don't know if this works as I removed my Glosso once it was 5 layers deep and various ends started to grow up in the fashion you have yours now.

Hope this helps a little,

Ingo

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Proud Member of the New Jersey Aquatic Gardeners Club

With a plant that spreads the way glosso does you're not going to see its true form until it starts propigating itself. Is it possible that this is just emersed growth? Even if it isn't grown this way. often the original plant piece you bought will die off anyway and be replaced by new growth.

Personally I've never seen such tall glosso, that's what I thought when you planted it. I figured it had to be just an unusual growth form. To keep it as low as we picture it in our heads, especially on a small tank, a light upgrade may be required.

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Back in the saddle!

I guess it's time for an update on this tank...

I got very frustrated with the glosso so that went and now it's a java fern-only tank.

The plants are growing quite well, I've had to move some to another tank because the poor betta was running out of open swim space.

Here is a recent photo of the tank. Any suggestions on changes?

And is there any way I can encourage upwards growth of the java fern?

Thanks



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Excellent Theresa, really really great job

Looks like what's been going on in my 4G

IME java fern kind of does what it wants. Brighter light and more open space may encourage it to grow larger, but I think it looks fantastic as is. If it grew any further vertically I don't think your betta would have much room to swim.

And kudos on changing out the glosso. For this tank it didnt seem like the right plant for the job. The java layout has turned out very well.

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Back in the saddle!

So.............. that's java fern! Looks good, so bright & green!

Do you think it needs a background?

Did a bit of cleaning and thinning today so here's a quick shot:



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Wow, that looks great Theresa. I agree that if you got the java fern to grow taller it wouldn't look as good.

I think it would look great with a solid color background on there.

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Critical Fertilator: The Micromanager of Macronutrients

Any thoughts about background color? I think it needs one but I'm concerned about making the tank too dark.



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I actually think it looks great without a background. If you want something light, any color poster board will do.

If I were you I'd stick to something white/ off-white. Black would lessen the contrast of the driftwood and the leaves, and I'm not crazy about blue under any circumstance but that's just me

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Back in the saddle!

Very nice little tank ! It will be interesting to see this grow out, especially when more plants are added.

Hahaha you gave in and got some moss



The Amazon Nut...

Thats a really nice home you've made for your betta. Regarding background, I always prefer one and I always prefer black. I never think a black background makes a tank too dark - rather, I think it brings out the colours of your fish & plants.

Very nice job Theresa

Cheers
TW

Quick shot with the background...I found some left-over from another tank, just a neutral rock-pattern.

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Theresa_M,

This is a very beautiful betta tank. I believe the rock background is perfect for that aquarium. The plants contrast with it so well.

JBE

Theresa_M,

Have you thought of a white background? The rock seems so dark and the wood just disappears. The java ferns seem to float on the wall.

I like the shots of the tank without the background as you can see the wood and plants real well. If you had a white background you could see everything nicely with out the cords and filter showing. Maybe you could use a piece of poster board?

The tank looks very healthy and am sure the Betta is loving his place.


Rick
See all my pictures at Google Web Albums

Well I did some changes again....

I ended up taking out the wood to use in my 30g and added a different piece. I think it opens up the tank a bit more

The betta got some new tankmates today, very small rasboras. I dropped in some floating anacharis to give them additional hiding places. Hopefully he'll get used to the new fish and I can take it out.

I'm not sure what I want to do with the wood though. It already has a small piece of java fern attached but that can be removed. I got a small bunch of java moss today that I kind of stuck in the middle hole. I'm thinking of attaching it to the wood, but not exactly sure where...just on top, in the holes, all over?





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Quick shot taken after water change today. Yes I've been re-arranging again...



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I really like the tank as you had it setup just prior to this latest photo. Made the appearance of the tank larger than it is. Nice job.

Jim

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Water, taken in moderation, cannot hurt anybody. -- Mark Twain

I really like the tank as you had it setup just prior to this latest photo.

I agree, that shot looks really good. I'm gonna do a 5g like this one of these days with a betta and a couple ADF's so I'll probably steal some of your ideas.

Also, I looked at the first few posts of this thread and you didn't mention anything about a heater and I don't see one in the pictures either. Are you not using one?