# Butch’s 5.5 Gallon “El Natural” Tank



## Cichlid Junkie (Mar 25, 2005)

I started my tank on 23 Jan 2010 and the biggest problem I have been having is cloudy water. I have been changing about 50% every other day, but now that I have had knee surgery, I cant really carry water back and forth to the kitchen because I'm on crutches. If I cant get the water changed for several days, what can I expect? Here is a before shots taken on 2 Feb:










Here is the tank after a water change and trimmed some of the plants (I replanted the clippings):










What other plants would you suggest for the tank? It will house a trio of Dario Dario's and possibly some shrimp.

Here are the plants that are already in the tank:

Water Wysteria, HC, Sunset/Ceylon/sp. 'Bold' Hygrophila, Money Wort, and E. Vesuvius


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## dwalstad (Apr 14, 2006)

Cichlid Junkie said:


> I started my tank on 23 Jan 2010 and the biggest problem I have been having is cloudy water.
> What other plants would you suggest for the tank? It will house a trio of Dario Dario's and possibly some shrimp.
> 
> Here are the plants that are already in the tank:
> ...


Dear Mr. Cichlid,

Water Wisteria is the only plant I see on this list that I think may actually do well. The HC does great in an Amano tank but not an NPT where plants don't get unlimited CO2. The most important thing for tank success is getting robust plants that are adaptive to your soil and water conditions.

A few suggestions: Sagittaria subulata, Echinodorus tenellus, E. radicans (dwarf), Elodea, Hornwort, Bacopa monnieri, Rotala rotundifolia, Java moss, Cryptocoryne wendtii, and Riccia fluitans.

In my book, I recommend that beginners try as many plant species as possible and not negate plants like Elodea and Hornwort that may be old-fashioned but extremely functional. Better to have a well-functioning tank with common species than a tank with fashionable species (e.g., HC) that soon succumbs to algae.


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## Cichlid Junkie (Mar 25, 2005)

Thanks for the good info. I was going for stem plants when I initially set up the tank. The generous individual that I bought the stems from threw in the HC for free and to be honest, I couldn't throw it out. It has gone through a stage where it turned brown, but is making a comeback. I'll have to make a trip to my LFS in the morning and see what they have. Hopefully they will have a good portion of whats on the list that you gave me. Thanks again.


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## Cichlid Junkie (Mar 25, 2005)

I went to my LFS and they had a few of the plants you suggested. Here is what I picked up.

Elodea, Hornwort, and Cryptocoryne wendtii. I was a little hesitant on the Hornwort as it looked dark and the needles looked like they would make a mess of the tank, but I bought it anyway and I am glad I did. The fine needles are a nice size for a nano tank. 

For the time being, I placed the hornwort in the back left corner with the Elodea along the side of the hornwort towards the front of the tank. I flipped the dw 180 degrees and planted the crypt in front of it. I think the tank is starting to come around.

I will keep the other plants in there for the time being until I can find the rest of what I am looking for. I'll take some pics in a few days when the stem plans straighten up some.

Ms. Walstad, thanks for your help and guidance. I'm going to like the NPT way of doing things.


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## mudboots (Jun 24, 2009)

Glad to see you picked up a Cryptocoryne species. They have become one of my favorites in an NPT due to their ability to grow massive root systems and thrive in lower light and lower CO2 conditions.

I'm working on a 3 gallon picotope right now that will have Crpyt. willisii, a really small Crypt species, as the main foreground plant. You might consider something similar if your HC doesn't hold up in the long run.

Another plant, which I have heard is a little more demanding, but that seems to grow well for me (maybe it's just the water conditions in this area) is Staurogyne sp. 'porto vehlo'. It's a very low-growing plant that is great for small tanks in the foreground. I've got it in my picotope and in the 125 (where it's getting crowded out by Marsilea).

While you may not be able to get these at your LFS, you can always find some avaible on the For-Sale-Or-Trade forum by making a WTB post. Most often you'll get more than you pay for (compared to local prices) including shipping, and sometimes you'll get it for the cost of shipping (RAOK packages are what allowed me to get started in this hobby).


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## Cichlid Junkie (Mar 25, 2005)

I think I'm going to pull the HC since it is barley hanging on and maybe grow a lawn of ricca...but I have also thought of just leaving the front empty and putting the ricca on the dw.

I went and had my water tested yesterday because I wasn't trusting the test strips that I had. It turns out that my PH is around 6.8, not 5.5 and everything else was normal (0 nitrites, 0 nitrates, 0 Ammonia). The only problem that I had was very very soft water. So I went to the farm store and bought a 5lb bag of oyster grit for the filter. Even after I washed the dust off, it still made my water cloudier.

Here is a FTS from today. I hope the soil settles down soon so my water clears up.










I really like the way the Crypt. blocks some of the dw making it not so big in the tank.


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## mudboots (Jun 24, 2009)

Looking at the updated shots I'd think that an ivy-like cover of Stauro.'porto vehlo' would really look cool. The Riccia fluitans seems like it would be more of a floater in this kind of system rather than submersed as a carpet (thinking about light and CO2 and comparing what it likes submersed to what HC likes submersed).


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## Cichlid Junkie (Mar 25, 2005)

I went and purchased a API master test kit so I could know exactly what my water parameters were, something I should have done first. Ammonia, Nitrites and Nitrates are all at 0 ppm, but when I put the oyster grit in a few days ago, it shot my PH up to 8.0 (PH out of the tap is 6.4)! Good thing I haven't put any fish in there yet.

So I reduced the amount of oyster grit in my filter and did a 60% water change last night. I tested the water after a few hours of it circulating and it was at 7.8. I let it run overnight and did another 60% water change this morning and it dropped to 7.2. I'm going to watch it over the next few days and go from there.

I pulled the dw out because it was leeching so many tannins into the water. I boiled it 3 times between yesterday and today and it is still changing the water in the pot brown. This is the 5th time total it has been boiled and has been soaking in a bucket since November. I thought it would be done by now.

While I was messing with the plants, I moved the swapped the Elodea for the Water Wisteria and moved the small rock forward after pulling all the HC that was loosing the battle to win. I am starting to like the way the tank is looking without the dw. It took up too much room.

After all of my rambling, I do have a question, are there any liquid test kits that measure Hardness besides the test strips? I had to by some strips to take a hardness reading (its at 120 mg/l = medium hardness). I think it might just be easier to use some Seachem Equilibrium.

Here is a picture taken after the second water change.


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## dwalstad (Apr 14, 2006)

Tank looks really nice.


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## Cichlid Junkie (Mar 25, 2005)

Its coming along slowly, but I like the way its progressing. A few fish and I can start to really enjoy it.


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## mudboots (Jun 24, 2009)

Sorry to hear about the driftwood. I had a piece that was awesome in a 3 gallon Picotope and it constantly colored the water. Then one day I could tell something was definitely wrong, and it turns out that a large portion of it had started to rot. That tank now has some sweet looking rock I collected in Nacogdoches, Texas.

I had another beautiful piece in my 125, but it's in the yard now, as I needed some fast growing plants, and that was the only space left (planted a few stems of R.rotundifolia and a piece of Nymphoides sp. 'Taiwan' (thanks davemonkey). I still have one piece in that tank, but it doesn't color the water like it used to. It took about 4 months before it quit.


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## Cichlid Junkie (Mar 25, 2005)

I'd like to add some java moss to the tank, but I'm not sure if I want to try another piece of driftwood or maybe a few stones like the ones that's in there now. My kids found that one in Wyoming years ago and gave it to me as a gift. Well see what stones I can find to add in to match.


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## Cichlid Junkie (Mar 25, 2005)

I was able to score about 5 lbs of Ohko stones that I think will look perfect in the tank covered in moss. Well see If I can pull off the plan in my head without having to move any of the plants...that should be interesting!


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