2 gallon planted jar plus a few questions

[banjocat]

B banjocat how's it looking, one month in?

Ya I'm interested too

Me too! I think it's really cool idea

Thanks for the interest. Sorry for no updates. Thought this topic was forgotten about.

I took really good care of the jar for the first month or so, but then started severely neglecting it. The Rotala rotundifolia seems to have grown a little bushier and taller(a little more than half way to the waterline). The water wisteria grew some roots but some of the stem rotted on them and had to be removed. One of the dwarf swords looks like it died (keeping its roots in there to see if it can recover) but the other two look salvageable.

replaced the water a few days ago and resumed giving about 12 hours a day of light. There is still some algae I need to clean off the glass. I'll try to add new pics after I clean it up some more. But the only real thing to see is that the rotala has grown some. Plan to trim the rotala soon to root some of the stems (want to add it to a small pond) but I'll take the pics first.

But in conclusion if someone else tries it and doesn't neglect it like I did, I think good results are likely(depending on what plant species you choose).

 

[banjocat]

I bought some new plants to try in a small pond/wadding pool I'm experimenting with. One of them is cryptocoryne wendtii . Watched a video where someone tried similar and all of their cryptocoryne wendtii died(temp swings?).

Since I'm only getting one and don't want to risk it in the pond, I was thinking of putting it in its own 1 gallon jar and using potting soil topped with gravel as the substrate. The jar will only be about 5.5 inches(14 cm) in diameter. Do you think this would be likely to work? I know the dirt will cloud the water some but that is ok with me as long as the plant gets enough light.

I could put it in a bigger aquarium or another 2 gallon jar, but I have a bunch of 1 gallon jars sitting around and since this would be my first time using dirt in an "aquarium" I thought it would be best to keep it small.

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As far as the original 2 gallon I know HarleyK suggested adding shrimp. My dad's cherry shrimp finally started having shrimplets so he might have extra soon. The jar might be a place to put some of the non red shrimp. I like the non red ones, but have read that if you keep them with the red ones you'll eventually stop having red offspring as they mix and breed. I'm guessing that the Seachem Excel, Iron, and Flourish that I sometimes add to the jar might hurt the shrimp though.

 

[banjocat]

I bought some new plants to try in a small pond/wadding pool I'm experimenting with. One of them is cryptocoryne wendtii . Watched a video where someone tried similar and all of their cryptocoryne wendtii died(temp swings?).

Since I'm only getting one and don't want to risk it in the pond, I was thinking of putting it in its own 1 gallon jar and using potting soil topped with gravel as the substrate. The jar will only be about 5.5 inches(14 cm) in diameter. Do you think this would be likely to work? I know the dirt will cloud the water some but that is ok with me as long as the plant gets enough light.

I could put it in a bigger aquarium or another 2 gallon jar, but I have a bunch of 1 gallon jars sitting around and since this would be my first time using dirt in an "aquarium" I thought it would be best to keep it small.

Looked more into their size. A one gallon jar seems like it might be too tight of a fit, especially with the way their leaves like to spread out. Have an aquarium I could move it too, but not sure how much they like just plain gravel as substrate. Luckily it is coming potted, so even though they don't like change much I could probably leave in the pot for awhile until I find a place for it if necessary.

 

[reefman]

I bought some new plants to try in a small pond/wadding pool I'm experimenting with. One of them is cryptocoryne wendtii . Watched a video where someone tried similar and all of their cryptocoryne wendtii died(temp swings?).

Since I'm only getting one and don't want to risk it in the pond, I was thinking of putting it in its own 1 gallon jar and using potting soil topped with gravel as the substrate. The jar will only be about 5.5 inches(14 cm) in diameter. Do you think this would be likely to work? I know the dirt will cloud the water some but that is ok with me as long as the plant gets enough light.

I could put it in a bigger aquarium or another 2 gallon jar, but I have a bunch of 1 gallon jars sitting around and since this would be my first time using dirt in an "aquarium" I thought it would be best to keep it small.

------------------------------
As far as the original 2 gallon I know HarleyK suggested adding shrimp. My dad's cherry shrimp finally started having shrimplets so he might have extra soon. The jar might be a place to put some of the non red shrimp. I like the non red ones, but have read that if you keep them with the red ones you'll eventually stop having red offspring as they mix and breed. I'm guessing that the Seachem Excel, Iron, and Flourish that I sometimes add to the jar might hurt the shrimp though.

Be careful with wadding pools aka plastic kiddie pools. Some manufacturers add insecticide to the plastic to kill off the bugs that lay there eggs in water

 

[banjocat]

Be careful with wadding pools aka plastic kiddie pools. Some manufacturers add insecticide to the plastic to kill off the bugs that lay there eggs in water

Too dark to go out and look for the manufacturer name now. Do you know if this has any impact on plants? Was planning on keeping it plant only. Had considered adding ramshorn snails to help with the algae but that might become a problem.

 

[reefman]

Too dark to go out and look for the manufacturer name now. Do you know if this has any impact on plants? Was planning on keeping it plant only. Had considered adding ramshorn snails to help with the algae but that might become a problem.

Don't no if it would or not

 

[banjocat]

Not a great photo, but here is a new one. Today I cleaned the jar a bunch and did a water change. Most of the plants ended up uprooted. Put a bunch back in the gravel but are still a bunch floating at the top. I know some of the rotala was taller. I think I was too rough and snapped some of their stems.

I keep having trouble with a thick bio film on the surface. Having the same trouble with a low tech 5 gallon I recently started. Think I'll have to add air stones or something for some surface movement.

Might also have to look into planting tools because I'm having trouble planting all these plants next to each other without uprooting the ones I already planted.

I'll try to take better pics once I figure out how to arrange things and their is some growth.

 

[banjocat]

Since I mentioned the 5 gallon here are some pictures from today. I started it about a week ago. The substrate is topsoil capped with gravel. The plants are dwarf sagittaria, cryptocoryn wendtii, dwarf hairgrass, ludwigia repens, and anubias nana. There is also some red root floater but it looks pretty much dead. Probably going to remove the anubias nana.

 

[banjocat]

Since It will probably be awhile before I take more pics of the 2 gallon jar, here is a better side-view. Shows better how the rotala has grown. Know it was even taller, but as I said I think I must've broke some stems.