# My first aquarium, 1.5 gal planted hex. comments welcome.



## Osteomata (Jan 11, 2005)

Somehow I managed to get through nearly 40 years without ever owning an aquarium. That changed in December when I received a guppy and a tiny tank as a gift. While researching how to keep him alive, I learned about this whole planted tank thing, which lead me to this wonderful forum. Here is my first attempt, a 1.5 Gallon Planted Nano Hex, comments welcome.

Tank: 1.5 gal hex (1.5 is my estimate)
Lighting: 13 Watt PC desk lamp, 6400k, 12 hour cycle.
Substrate: Eco-Complete, from 1 to 1.5 inches
Filter: Azoo Palm, I have the flow valve cutting the flow a lot.
CO2: DIY 16oz, Nyberg formula, no diffuser yet, just the tubing
Water: pH 6.9, kH 7, Nitrate 5-10
Ferts: Haven't started yet, but I have Flourish for the traces. I have not figured out the macros and iron yet, suggestions?
Flora: (Most planted last night, lets see if they last)
Anubia Nana
Eleocharis Acicularis (Dwarf Hair Grass)
Chladophora Aegagropila (Moss Ball)
Glossostigma elatinoides (Been in there a week, looks ok so far)
Vesicularia dubyana (Java Moss) Ignore the thread holding it.
Nymphaea (Tiger Lotus) very very tiny, front left.
Ether Hornwort or some kind of Foxtail, not sure which
Fauna: 1 male, 2 female guppies
Future plans for tank: 
- DIY diffuser for CO2, got a "new" idea for this, Ill let you know how it goes.
- Replace guppies with shrimp when I get another aquarium for the guppies. (a certainty now that I'm hooked)
- Replace the Anubias Nana with a "petite" variant
- Add some substrate to the back of the tank, its a bit thin there.
- Replace the hornwort/foxtail (whatever it is) with a smaller stem plant. Or baby tears maybe.

Things I learned this week:
- Glosso: seemed a pain at first, but then I just started pushing the root/stems down into the substrate with a flat screwdriver, sprinkled some substrate, so far so good.
- I am a plant impulse buyer. (see tiger lotus and unknown stemplant)
- Anubias Nana takes up way more room than I thought.
- An 8 inch tall tank is really really short.
- 5 inches from front to back does not allow a foreground, mid ground, and rear, just a fore and rear.


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## SnyperP (Dec 10, 2004)

The tank is looking pretty good. Sounds like you have a solid plan! One of the things about smaller tanks is it's confined spaces (obviously) and one of the best approach is to find smaller plants to create the illusion of a large tank. It sounds like you're going for that approach. I think the Chladophora will distrub this illusion. In the past others have ripped apart and flattened it out to create a very intersting carpet effect. I'm not sure how that would look next to horiztonal glosso though. Here a picture for an idea.

http://www.aquaticplantcentral.com/forumapc/showthread.php?t=2828&page=1&pp=10

Welcome to APC =)

**EDIT** Heh generally in nano tanks, your midgroud does become your background.


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## trenac (Jul 16, 2004)

Looking good :razz:

I believe that the stem plant in the background is Frill.

The Tiger Lotus will outgrow your tank.

Any stem plant will not stay small enough for your tank. You may want to think about using mid-ground plants for background plants.

_When you replace the Guppys with shrimp do you plan on adding any other fish?_


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