5g Fluval Chi Nano (Updated 06.26.13)

[black_knight]

Just curious, but why 50/50? Room temp should be about 75-80 where the tank is going to be.

50/50 because my water is soo hard. If you use just RO it's electrolyte poor and your plants and fish need it. I did miss the fact you wanted to keep shrimp. The gouramis would eat them. Oryzias woworae are bluish. They stay small have some red in their fins and are hardy. You could do a small undergravel filter for them in that set up. They are less likely to eat your shrimp.

[armthehomeless]

I have Oryzias woworae in with my malawa shrimp.

[mistahoo]

Sorry, I caught the wrong ad, they are on sale for $4 each, subadults

Still pretty good prices. How many would you recommend getting?

[mistahoo]

50/50 because my water is soo hard. If you use just RO it's electrolyte poor and your plants and fish need it. I did miss the fact you wanted to keep shrimp. The gouramis would eat them. Oryzias woworae are bluish. They stay small have some red in their fins and are hardy. You could do a small undergravel filter for them in that set up. They are less likely to eat your shrimp.

Could I use 100% aged water instead? I will be bringing aged water in a container to do water changes so I won't have to run hoses and use dechlorinator.

[mnemenoi]

I would probably start off with 6-10 if you wanted to stock up the tank quickly. To be honest a single pair of cherries can populate a 10 gallon in 3-4 months with 50-100 shrimp. Assuming the chances of male/female ratios I'd suggest at least 4-6 and you'll likely be fine. Once they reach adulthood (2-3 months), they produce about 10-20 offspring every month on average and will continue doing so for 2 years. If you go with USPS it is $10 shipping and add a cold pac for $2 and they will likely be fine but no DOA gaurantee. Priority next day is $30. Waiting out a group buy can offset the shipping greatly

[mnemenoi]

My neos love our normal tap water, no need to soften it up. Now with my CBS and OEBT's, I only use Distilled water. The Sulawesi are their own monsters and I have to do tiny water changes with room temp water.

[mistahoo]

I was wanting to use aged water because I can't run hoses through the house and wc would be a PITA. If I use aged water, I could just bring it over in a container. I'm in no rush, so I think I'll wait for a group buy or start one in the future. I'll start collecting plants now. If I put them in mason jars/flower vases, do I just plant them like any other plant or do I need to keep them submerged?

[mistahoo]

So I asked my boss (the gf) about the ones you guys listed and possible candidates for the tank are:
-pseudomugil gertrudae
-some sort of lampeye
-Oryzias woworae

So far the only thing definite for livestock is the blue velvet neos. Any other fish that fit in the blue theme?

Roy, the zoo med canister you mentioned, were you talking about the Zoo Med Nano 501 External Canister Filter or just any one of them? The 501 is rated for 2-10g.

Would an Eheim 2211 work, or is it too much? How about an Eheim aquacompact 40?

[mistahoo]

I know it sounds stupid, but how do plant clippings work? Do you just plant them even though they don't have roots? I don't get it...

[mnemenoi]

Any clippings just toss into a jar with water and they'll usually develop a root structure you can plant or just tie them to something (like moss, anubias, java fern) or push them into the substrate and they'll develop one eventually. You can float them for months without substrate though (I have done it, lol) and plant them whenever your ready. Certainly keep them submerged or you'll have a die off of foliage as they readapt to submersed conditions.

I actually was looking for some cool neos in the future so I'd be up for jumping aboard a group buy in the future (month or so) and would love to spliit the shipping...

Totenkampf is actually selling his Zoo med used on here, but a 2211 would work as well. It all depends on what brands you like really. If you add any driftwood, a canister will help if you add in some purigen. It keeps that water crystal clear, we run it in all our nano tanks.

The clippings depend on what your talking about. Some plants produce runners (Cryptocornes, swords), some develop pups (Red Lotus), and most stems you just break and they will develop roots (Ludwigia, Rotala, Hygro). Others are epyphytic and dislike their roots being in anything like Anubias, Java fern, and mosses. Those we either jam into driftwood ot tie it with cotton string until it attaches itself.

I'll be back at the end of September and we always have lots of clippings we can share if it is not time critical. We have 5 different tanks to grab from and they always can use some clearing out, lol.

[wesleydnunder]

Have you ever looked at annual killies? Gorgeous fish that can do nicely in small set-ups.

http://images.search.yahoo.com/image...fr=yfp-t-701-1

Mark

[mnemenoi]

+1 Good call Mark, I raised some Notho Guentheri in my first planted tank and they were quite amusing. I forgot to mention them when I recommended the lampeyes

[mistahoo]

I can't see them too well on my phone, but they look awesome . I'll ask the boss later, thanks!

[mistahoo]

I was going to buy another bag of purigen for the nano tank. After seeing what two purigen bags does on my100g, I've been hooked on magic beans. I would love to get some clippings, time isn't critical.

[mnemenoi]

Cool deal, well I will hit you up when I get in and see about getting together. I think I will be having a local collection trip on the last weekend of September or the first weekend of October with Jozle and Texsun.