2.5G – Not Quite There
August 21st, 2008I last posted about my 2.5G tank about a month ago. Since then, the HC has really taken off, but it’s getting kind of out of hand, actually. The one thing I don’t like about HC is that, unlike Glossostigma elatinoides, it doesn’t trail the substrate as tightly, growing upwards a bit more instead. Of course the benefit is that HC has much smaller leaves than glosso.
2.5G - Click for larger image
It’s pretty obvious to me that the Malayan aquasoil has run out of umph. This isn’t entirely unexpected because the tank has been setup for almost 2 months now. That means that I’ve had to start dosing some Seachem fertilizers to keep things going. From the algae on the glass, you can tell that I haven’t been as consistent as I should be in this respect. The downoi has all but melted for me — again. This plant dogs me for some reason every time I try it in a nano. I suspect it’s the inconsistent dosing, or possibly the higher temperatures that the light produces in this tank. Overall, I’m kind of underwhelmed by this scape. Hopefully I’ll be able to spruce it up a little bit before October 1st when the photo is due. I love to hear suggestions for what to put on the left side.
August 21st, 2008 at 12:21 pm
Ugh, that downoi would’ve looked great. I’ve heard so many bad experiences with that plant that I’m too nervous to try it! But apparently you have had success in bigger tanks?
August 21st, 2008 at 1:54 pm
I’m thinking maybe a short bunch of Bolbitis h. rooted to the rock in the front left, or maybe a Kleiner Baer sword planted in the far left slope of substrate behind that rock … don’t know if either would fit … maybe even just some more of the Anubias b. nana on that rock … an Otocinclus could help with the sprucing up; the b&w (no brown) zebra-striped variety would look nice in this set-up (I’ve seen them passing through recently in a few LFSs in Monkey County, MD; I’m afraid I don’t know the exact species name).
August 22nd, 2008 at 8:38 pm
Yeah, I’m bummed that the downoi didn’t work out either. I’ve had varying success in other tanks, yes. I think it just needs more consistency.
Mark, thanks for your suggestions! Bolbitus and the Kleiner bar would definitely be too large, as this is a tiny tank, but you might be on to something with using more anubias (never a bad thing IMO). Ottos are great fish — I haven’t yet decided on a fish for this tank.
August 29th, 2008 at 3:17 pm
What about a small amount of Japonica in the upper left? Would look like aubertii does in the larger tank, although you would have to thin it out more here. You could move the rest of the Java fern into the right and find a stem to grow across the center back to highlight your great rockscape.
I think the HC looks great even with it being slightly higher than glosso, might place some more nana above the rock in the left front, would also allow you to hide your CO2 rather well between japonica and the anubias.
August 30th, 2008 at 8:28 am
B. japonica might work out. I’ll have to try it to see if the textures of the japonica and java fern are too contrasting. Thanks for the comments!
September 2nd, 2008 at 5:49 am
[…] weeks ago, I posted a rather pathetic version of my 2.5G aquascape. I got some great comments from everyone, and have updated the scape in a few […]