Here we go... Orion's Fluval Ebi Planted Tank

[Orion]

Told ya I was setting up a tank

So here it is, FedEx dropped the tank off on Friday, hit the jackpot with a few plants and wood on Saturday, been playing with it ever since. Think I like it for the moment anyway.

Only critters right now is three tracked nerite's, one spiked zebra nerite (was a stow away on plants, how awesome!), some ghost shrimp and a pretty little female betta. Eventually will be getting some RCS for this tank, and probably loose all fish.

PLANTS! Got some bacopa, combomba, Anubias Nana, Java Fern, Java moss and going to try for a foreground of dwarf hairgrass. If the hairgrass don't work I may got with some HC.

Using stock 13w PC light that came with the tank, a Toms Rapids mini Canister filter for filtration. I'm looking into a little better mini canister, at least one that has quick disconnects.

No Co2 or ferts at the moment. This tank is sitting on our kitchen counter and every side including the back is very visible, so if I do go Co2 I may try that nifty little Fluval kit with the disposable cartridges. I've honestly about forgoten what little I did know about ferts, so I'm trying to catch back up and see what needs to be done. I do figure start with some Florish Excel a few times a week, then something for micro and NPK.

Any feedback is welcome! I'll do my best to answer any and all questions.

 

[arcab4]

here's some quick 411 for people to read if they're interested in specs/descriptions of the tank itself.
Fluval Ebi Nano Dwarf Shrimp Desktop Aquarium | FLUVAL: The Official Blog from Hagen

why did you pick this tank over the other fluval? i wasn't aware of this model...but it looks better than the edge or the chi.

but the tank looks good....really good actually...makes me try to find out if i can do one myself.

 

[phOOey]

so this a tank specifically aimed at keeping shrimp in? aha, thats interesting, what is it that makes it so shrimp friendly?

i've always wanted to set-up some sort of nano tank, i just think that in a lot of ways they're more interesting that larger aquariums! yours looks great orion, i can really see it maturing into a nice, natural looking little 'pocket' of nature, hope it goes well for you!

 

[Lotus]

Looks really good!

 

[riseabovethesun]

Ah, spectacular, I love it. I was lucky enough to snag a nerite just like that for cheap, it was mislabeled as a mystery snail.

+1 for an all shrimp tank :] Fish are great, but sometimes it's fun to spice it up with little creatures.

 

[Orion]

Thanks for the link Johnny Get one, you know you want too!

I went with this one over the Flora (the other kit like this but aimed at more at plants rather than shrimp, I might have gotten the name wrong..) largely due to the price difference. About every where online I looked there was at least $30-40 difference. I also was able to pick this kit up at Aquarium Supplies, Pet Supplies and Pond Supplies by That Fish Place - That Pet Place for $76 and some change, and got free shipping! Compared to the ADA cube tank I was seriously thinking about, this saved a LOT of money right now lol. I almost started to get the ADA tank, but figured I would start with a respective toe back in the water rather than a full blown head first dive.

The Fluval Chi didn't interest me due to the fact that it lacks a top (we have three cats, and even though it'll end up an invert only tank, didn't want to provide them with a very nice water dish). The Edge just seems to hard to properly maintain. I have seen some really nice ones that were planted though.

Hey phooey! The substrate I think is the main difference here. It has some buffering stuff that helps maintain good water chemistry for dwarf shrimp. On the same note though, the substrate is rather light. Lighter than eco complete as I recall, so planting rooted plants can be a challenge.

Thanks for the kind words everyone! I did so a bit of rescaping yesterday, going to have to end up adding a heater, which really kills the looks IMO.

 

[lauraf]

I just took out that substrate from my 5g. I think because I have ADFs who were constantly digging around in it and uprooting plants too, the substrate started to break down. I was always stuffing a plant back in myself. I had a thin sooty layer from on it on all my leavess and decor, and my pH starting to drop precipitously low . . . . it is buffered to be slightly acidic, but my pH dropped to less than 4.5 over time! I've spoken with others who are using it just for shrimp, and aren't fussing with changing things around, and they haven't had the same issue. So try not to do too much rearranging of the plants and I'm sure you won't have a problem either - and the setup looks marvelous!

 

[Orion]

Thanks for the tip lauraf. I did notice how fragile it was if I took a handful and just squished it in my fist (opps!). It just broke down to gunk. I have heard of other people having a problem with it breaking down over a bit of time, but oddly enough it seemed to be the more you rinsed it and tried to get the dust off of it, the quicker it broke down. The people who said that they just dumped it out and did no rinsing said it barely even gets cloudy when they rescape. I did do a quick rinse job on mine, so we shall see how it holds up.

Something is getting a bit funky with my manzitia wood. (that's not the spelling of it....not sure how it's spelled off hand and google is no help when I spell this bad) It's getting a bit of a cottony coating on it. I'm thinking it's just a fungus of some sort. I really don't want to have to take it out and clean it, but it may come to it. I think I've seen a similar funk on some other driftwood before when it was new.

 

[Kiara1125]

My Java Moss is getting that "cottony coating" too. I set up some Java Moss in my Goldfish tank and I noticed it. I took some off and it feels really slimy. I have no clue as to what it is, but I just want ti out. My fish don't seem to mind, yet, but it's only in my Goldfish tank, not my fry tank.

 

[lauraf]

Yeah, it seems that with this substrate the less handling the better. I get that fungus at first on my manzanita wood too - apparently normal and harmless . . . .

 

[tom91970]

Love the drift wood.

 

[Orion]

Well the betta and ghost shrimp are gone. Now I have a lonley Dario Dario, and a dozen Fire red cherry shrimp. I do plan on having a few tanks for just inverts setup before the summer is out and will move some cherries over to really get a colony going. If I can dig it up I've got a pic of one of the female shrimp I took yesterday.

This is a female, they are still stressed out and are getting more color each day. They look like little bits of fire running around in the tank.

 

[Orion]

That photo of the shrimp looks awful! When I fixed it, I was using my old monitor and didn't realize how off the brightness was lol. Eh. Got me a new monitor now...almost wish I didn't, now I can see how bad my photography has gotten.

Think I might use this thread as a journal of sorts. I need more light in the worst way over my tank. The hairgrass isn't dying, but it's not just taking off with life either. Also the stem plants are starting to all grow in a wave pattern to get to the light better, it looks neat, but just tells me I need more. Since this tank is so open, Im going to get another fluval 13w light, that should do what I need.

 

[big54bob]

>3pg and no ferts is over kill, keep that second light off until you get some ferts on that bad boy.

As for ferts, Green Leaf Aquarium makes killer dry ferts.

 

[Orion]

I'm adding flourish excel for the time being. But 26 watts is no where near over kill with these PC lights. The intensity is plays a larger factor than wpg. (Wpg is only a general guideline at best). The most important thing is to just watch the plants and respond to what they need.

Never tried the gla stuff, I've always had great luck with the Greg Watson dry. But I'll probably just stick with the ferts I know won't harm the shrimp.

 

[ValRasbora]

I can't see the pictures but I can imagine how beautiful it is, Orion!

 

[Orion]

I'll get a new photo up this week, done a bit of re-scaping. Also have a variety of mosses and other odd plants coming in later this week I hope arrive in good shape that would look great in here.

This is now officially an invert only tank. I ended up getting 3 more Scarlet Badis for a total of four, but moved them out to their own 5 gallon. This is good, as there are at least 3 females carrying eggs, and 4 others with saddles showing. So with any luck I should be having a shrimp explosion in the next few months. Plus now that there are no fish, the shrimp are out all the time now.

 

[Orion]

Here is a quick and dirty update from my cell phone.

I'm getting more Fissidens than I can shake a stick at, and my DHG has just grown in wonderfully. Still same equipment setup, I just added a heater. I cut way back on the excel dosing, to maybe once or twice a week.

And the shrimp are breeding like mad

 

[Fuzz16]

ahhh looove it

and if you wanna get rid of some shrimp lemme know starting a 10g for cherrys

what plants do you have in there?

hairgrass on bottom?
hygro, wisteria, ludweigia?

 

[Orion]

Yep, dwarf hair grass in the bottom, the wisteria I just plopped in last night trying to decide if I'm going to keep it or not. The left is Rotala colorata, then I've got some Fissidens, mini pellia and Subwassertang, some Mini Totals and some kind of clover stuff. When I get to desktop ill give better descriptions.

I could probably donate some juvie shrimp if you cancover shipping