# What would you do with this tank?



## GoldieCrazie (Oct 2, 2010)

Well, I have been having awful luck with this little 5 gallon! :Cry: The plants look awful and I have a serious recurring problem with dark fuzzy algea; I want to redo the tank.
I am thinking I will keep a dwarf frog, nerite snail, and MTS. I am kind of liking the look of penny wort, but would it do good in a small tank?

As you can see I don't have much of an idea for what to do with it. So, what would you guys do with it?

My lighting is 3 watts per gallon, I have a heater it keeps it around 76-78, and a bubble stone for water movement. 

I can't wait to hear some ideas!

(The goldfish in the picture is a temporary resident, he was getting bullied)


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## Jsthomas (Nov 3, 2010)

What's your substrate like? Unless there is seriously something wrong with the way it's setup I dont see the need to redo the whole thing. Just imo though.


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## Newt (Apr 1, 2004)

Do you mean Brazilian pennywort (Hydrocoytle leucoephala)? That a fast grower and mostly floating. It can be anchored into the substrate and draped over other plants/ornaments and look nice. (see attachment).

Your fuzzy algae is probably BBA and is typically caused by two things out of whack. I would guess you have both low nitrate and low CO2. Add a touch too much iron and you got....BBA.


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## GoldieCrazie (Oct 2, 2010)

Jsthomas said:


> What's your substrate like? Unless there is seriously something wrong with the way it's setup I dont see the need to redo the whole thing. Just imo though.


I have soil from my garden topped with some petco gravel. I don't want to replace the gravel. Just the plants, or rearrange them better, or just do something to make the tank more appealing to look at.


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## Duckweed Hunter (Jun 3, 2010)

your light looks like an incandescent and to my knowledge has no UV.So not benefiting your plants.


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## Franco (Jun 25, 2010)

When I have had BBA it was from dosing iron combined with too much light. Limit the iron and reduce the light and it will go away or you can help it out with some hydrogen peroxide.


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## GoldieCrazie (Oct 2, 2010)

Newt said:


> Do you mean Brazilian pennywort (Hydrocoytle leucoephala)? That a fast grower and mostly floating. It can be anchored into the substrate and draped over other plants/ornaments and look nice. (see attachment).
> 
> Your fuzzy algae is probably BBA and is typically caused by two things out of whack. I would guess you have both low nitrate and low CO2. Add a touch too much iron and you got....BBA.


Yes, that is the plant. 
I do have lower nitrate in this tank than my other and would guess co2 to be lower also. I googled BBA and the pics don't look like what I have, mine is more of a dark brown and has more of a velour type fuzzy look to it. I have added a handful of hornwort to this tank a few times and the algea just smothers the hornwort! I have done a few treatments of hydrogen peroxide, all it does is come back stronger. Very frustrating...


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## Newt (Apr 1, 2004)

Duckweed Hunter said:


> your light looks like an incandescent and to my knowledge has no UV.So not benefiting your plants.


Incandescent bulbs emit mostly in the red region of the visible spectrum. Both red and blue light is used in photosynthesis. Red light is good for stem elongation. However, as the only type of light will give long, stringy plants. Blue light promotes leaf development and will give you compact, bushy growth. Infra-red and UV light can actually shutdown photosynthesis.


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## GoldieCrazie (Oct 2, 2010)

I am using a 15 watt compact flourescent made for small aquariums. I tossed the incadescent bulb when I bought the tank.


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## Tanan (Mar 11, 2009)

Also I would remove the air stone,add a very small power head or DIY one to fit your liking.
you can dose weekly excel to get the CO2 problem fixed as it ll be the cheapest and easiest to do option for such a small tank.It ll also help in fighting most of the algae,try squirting it right over the algae.
I would add a small log covered with anubias nana at left,some hair grass,corkscrew vals at the back and crypt perva at right or as a focal point.


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## totziens (Jun 28, 2008)

Looks like your light tube needs replacement. It obviously does not look bright to me. Usually the tube has to be replaced every year. FYI, watt per gallon guideline does not apply to tanks which are too small and too large accurately. In your case, the tank is in the too small category. 

BBA could be caused by dirty filter too. Try to remove the BBA by shooting Seachem Excel directly onto it. Then clean the filter. Goldfish is one of the dirtiest/messy fishes. So the filter will turn filthy very easily.

How many hours do you keep the light on? During initial set up try to restrict it to about 6 hours and slowly increase it to 8 hours. You may consider having siesta period of 2 hours in between to reduce the possibility of algae attacks.

Here's what I would do if this is my tank:

1. Change the light tubes. Look for something with 5000 Kelvin and beyond.

2. Get rid of all the unhealthy plants and algae.

3. Replace the upper layer of substrate with something smaller in diameter. I often use Holland sand. I have a feeling that your current upper layer of substrate does not promote plant's growth.

4. I will add more substrate at the back to create a slope for depth. May use some rocks underneath or block the soil to reduce the possibility of landslide in the long run.

5. Get plants with tiny leaves, so that your tank will look larger.

6. Get tiny fish such as ember tetra, boraras, green neon tetra, etc and stick to one species, so that your tank will look more natural and not awkward in a small tank.

7. May consider some rocks of multiple sizes (stick to same type of rocks instead of multiple varieties) or driftwood with multiple branches for hardscape.


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## GoldieCrazie (Oct 2, 2010)

totziens said:


> Looks like your light tube needs replacement. It obviously does not look bright to me. Usually the tube has to be replaced every year. FYI, watt per gallon guideline does not apply to tanks which are too small and too large accurately. In your case, the tank is in the too small category.
> 
> BBA could be caused by dirty filter too. Try to remove the BBA by shooting Seachem Excel directly onto it. Then clean the filter. Goldfish is one of the dirtiest/messy fishes. So the filter will turn filthy very easily.
> 
> ...


I am looking into other lighting options, thank you for the info. I have been aiming for a 12-14 hour light schedule with a 3-4 hour siesta in the afternoon. I don't have a timer for this tank, so the schedule differs a bit day to day.

My LFS had lots of crypts yesterday, I bought them all! I am sucker for crypts. I don't know what type some of them are though. Today I switched out the gravel with some smaller gravel and planted. I added a small slope, the water is still pretty cloudy, so I can't tell how it looks yet.
The Goldfish was only a temporary resident in the tank, I had to put him somewhere for a few days because his fins were getting nipped. 
Thank you for input, it was very helpful!


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## Tanan (Mar 11, 2009)

Seems like you're on the right track.Just keep one thing in mind that crypt are famous for crypt melt,any sudden changes in water and they may melt.For IDs you can use the ID forum(I hope theirs one here).
And if you're really into aquascaping then do look for the focal pointhttp://www.aquatic-eden.com/2006/11/golden-rule-of-aquascaping.html.Heres a nice blog describing it.(I hope posting link from other webs are allowed).
And Ditto Totziens on a community of (one specie)small fish.
You can have an upper swimming,mid swimming and bottom dwelling fishes.


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## totziens (Jun 28, 2008)

I'm a sucker for crypts too  I bought a lot of them from leftover plants unused at Takashi Amano's workshop recently.

Try to get yourself a timer. It will make your life easier and also easier to control the amount of light supplied to your tank. Based on my experience, lighting for the duration of 12 hours and beyond always attract uncontrollable amount of algae into your tank. Green spot algae will be the usual culprit.


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