# My Ebi - 9 Months Later.



## Atom (Apr 21, 2010)

Hello,

So after several long conversations with Morainy and stalking various threads at different forums I fell in love with the new Fluval Ebi tank and had to have one.

I have never had a tank larger than 5 gallons because of a lack of room. The cube shape and small size was perfect for placing it on my dresser next to the computer. Nice break from the screen.

It's only been running for a week and this is my first tank journal  so I'm not sure what I am suppose to post, but here goes...

*
SETUP*
Fluval Ebi 7.9 gallon tank
Fluval Shrimp Stratum
Fluval Flora Stratum
Fluval Nano Filter
Fluval Edge 25 W heater

*PLANTS*
Cabomba
Windelov 
Java Fern (not sure which species)
Marimo Moss Balls
Alternanthera Reineckii 'Rosaefolia'

*DECOR*
Garden Stones
Coconut Hut
Manzanita Branch

*DOSING*
Flourish Excel
Flourish

Let me know what you think


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## crazy72 (Apr 22, 2010)

Atom said:


> Let me know what you think


Well, I think it would be great to see some pics! 

Sounds like a really nice tank.


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## Atom (Apr 21, 2010)

*Photos Photos*

First week of Planting. I wasn't sure Cabomba was going to do well in this tank. I don't believe the light is strong enough. I love the how full and fluffy it is, but that is also it's downfall in a small tank I think.









Excuse the cloudiness.










Trimmed the Cabomba down. As expected the bottoms feel apart and just made a mess. I think I might have to remove it soon.









Added the ALTERNANTHERA REINECKII 'ROSAEFOLIA'. I have always loved this plant and wanted one, but wasn't sure what I needed for it to stay alive. Got this from Aquaflora and it was labeled "easy" so I wanted to try it. I also wanted the tank to have some colour other than green. Tips on it's care would be appreciated!










Coconut Hut. My Betta will love going in there once I add him 

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TROUBLES...

Unfortunately, I don't know if I am just super sensitive to sounds, but the filter keeps me awake at night. I can hear it hum constantly and can't get it to stop nor do I know if it is suppose to do that. I am thinking of running the Ebi without the filter and just doing regular weekly water changes. Any thoughts or suggestions?

Cheers


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## Atom (Apr 21, 2010)

Looking for a twisty branch of some sort to stick in the back. 

Thinking about adding some Duckweed at the top. Still debating on this though.

Possibly going to replace the Cabomba with larger Java Fern.

I might be adding a few fish over the weekend, but not sure with the filter situation and lack of oxygenation. I have been using Seachem Stability for cycling. One of my Bettas is going in for sure when things settle down.


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## Atom (Apr 21, 2010)

crazy72 said:


> Well, I think it would be great to see some pics!
> 
> Sounds like a really nice tank.


Coming right up


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## crazy72 (Apr 22, 2010)

Very nice. If you're looking for a surface plant, you might want to consider water lettuce. A lot nicer than duckweed IMO.

As to the noise, I'm also a bit of a noise freak and I have found that it's often vibrations between the filter and nearby structures that create the problem, as opposed to filter noise per se. And it often helps to try to isolate the cause of the vibration and stick pieces of soft material to dampen it (cloth, foam, whatever). I don't know the ebi though so none of this might be relevant to you..

Great job on the scape here. And I don't know how you've managed to make the hole in the coconut shell so regular. Mine are all crooked and irregular.


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## Atom (Apr 21, 2010)

crazy72 said:


> Very nice. If you're looking for a surface plant, you might want to consider water lettuce. A lot nicer than duckweed IMO.
> 
> As to the noise, I'm also a bit of a noise freak and I have found that it's often vibrations between the filter and nearby structures that create the problem, as opposed to filter noise per se. And it often helps to try to isolate the cause of the vibration and stick pieces of soft material to dampen it (cloth, foam, whatever). I don't know the ebi though so none of this might be relevant to you..
> 
> Great job on the scape here. And I don't know how you've managed to make the hole in the coconut shell so regular. Mine are all crooked and irregular.


I would love to add some water lettuce, but I haven't had a chance to locate any yet.

I tried everything with the filter. Moved it, opened and cleaned it, switched the flow rate, checked all around it. It drives me nuts because I can't keep it on. Thanks for the tips though. I really do think the noise is internal though.

Do you mean the hole in the front or at the top? I purchased it that way ;p I think I sanded it down a bit though.


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## crazy72 (Apr 22, 2010)

Atom said:


> I would love to add some water lettuce, but I haven't had a chance to locate any yet.
> 
> I tried everything with the filter. Moved it, opened and cleaned it, switched the flow rate, checked all around it. It drives me nuts because I can't keep it on. Thanks for the tips though. I really do think the noise is internal though.
> 
> Do you mean the hole in the front or at the top? I purchased it that way ;p I think I sanded it down a bit though.


PM sent about a source of water lettuce.

Yes, the noise sometimes is internal, and that is a bummer. I hope you can fix it somehow.


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## Atom (Apr 21, 2010)

crazy72 said:


> PM sent about a source of water lettuce.
> 
> Yes, the noise sometimes is internal, and that is a bummer. I hope you can fix it somehow.


Thanks for the source 

The problem is I don't know what is wrong with it. I might try the impeller again.


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## effox (Apr 21, 2010)

If you're worried about your plant getting enough light I wouldn't personally add surface plants.

That ROSAEFOLIA will do great, I love its underside of the leaves, such a beautiful colour.


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## Petah (Dec 19, 2010)

How's the cabomba doing? If you want something fluffly and full, have you considered moss? The xmas moss in my EBI is doing very well.


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## Atom (Apr 21, 2010)

effox said:


> If you're worried about your plant getting enough light I wouldn't personally add surface plants.
> 
> That ROSAEFOLIA will do great, I love its underside of the leaves, such a beautiful colour.


That is a good point. Duckweed is small enough if I can keep it under control or maybe another light?

I love the colour of the Rosaefolia. I hear it needs extra Iron though. Don't know if I have enough nutrients for it.



Petah said:


> How's the cabomba doing? If you want something fluffly and full, have you considered moss? The xmas moss in my EBI is doing very well.


I don't think it's going to last. The tops are nice and fluffy, but the bottoms are dying. I don't think it gets enough light. I will keep it in for a little longer and see. I chose it because I wanted something to fill out the background to hide filters and such.

I assume Xmas moss has to be anchored to driftwood?

Also thinking maybe Wisteria instead?


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## Petah (Dec 19, 2010)

xmas moss does have to be anchored down. Wisteria should work also.


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## Atom (Apr 21, 2010)

I officially HATE Cabomba!!! I decided to do a water change today and has a I had feared, all the bottoms of the Cabomba came apart and the entire tank became a swirling vortex of decay. It was a mess.

Also mildly annoyed with duckweed all over my hand.

I will be off to the store from some new plants tomorrow.


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## Atom (Apr 21, 2010)

So after the Cabomba disaster I decided to replace the background plants with Bacopa. Not sure which species it is, but Aquariums West had some nice tall ones.










Moved an anubias and Java fern from my other tank to this one.










The rosaefolia is starting to grow taller. I might move it farther back soon.










Also, added 5 Galaxy Rasboras. I love these guys. They really look mini trout. I've noticed they are very shy, excellent hiders and a lot more active in the evening. Also very messy eaters. They are slowly becoming more confident especially after I added a few more.










Added 3 Cherry Shrimp mainly to act as a cleanup crew for the messy galaxies. Never had shrimp before and I am surprised at how active they are. In the store they didn't move in the tank at all. Mine are actively swimming around and exploring the tank. They don't sit still ever. I don't know if that is good or not.


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## target (Apr 21, 2010)

Looking really good. I really like the rosaefolia. It has grown a lot.


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## Mferko (Jun 8, 2010)

looks good where did you get the moss balls btw?


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## O.C.D Fishies (Apr 21, 2010)

It looks awesome and I especially love the coconut hut, what a great idea.


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## Atom (Apr 21, 2010)

Thanks everyone.

The larger moss ball was part of an eBay package and the smaller ones were from April.

If I could do an entire setup with Maribos and coconut huts I would.


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## Atom (Apr 21, 2010)

*New Additions and Plant situation.*

The Reineckii seems to be losing a lot of leaves lately. Anyone have any idea why it might be? I dose excel, flourish as well as iron. I think it might be a lighting issue. Also noticed the leaves are curling at the tips and also on the sides. The bacopa is growing nicely though. It has already grown pass the spray bar since this photo was taken last week. Can't wait for it to reach the surface.

Looking for something to fill in the middle gap section. More bacopa? or perhaps some ludwigia.










Added a Scarlet Badis a week ago. He doesn't seem to eat any prepared foods at all. He looks a bit thin, but is very curious and active still. Not sure what I am going to do. He may be eating the shrimplets for now. Love this fish! Also looking for a female.










Cherries hatched a week ago. So far I haven't really seen any in the last 2 days. I think they didn't survive my water changes or the dario.










Added 2 Tiger Shrimps today. Love the patterns on these. One is more of a red tone and the other blue. As soon as the camera came out both of them swam to the marimo ball to pose, but that only last a second.


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## Morainy (Apr 21, 2010)

Fantastic looking Ebi, Atom! I love the way your red plant looks in there, and the shrimp are gorgeous. 

I was just going to suggest feeding your Badis bloodworms but then I looked him up on Seriously Fish and discovered that bloodworms make Badis obese and give them health issues. Maybe someone else here has some small live food that he will eat? Maybe shrimplets are a good option for him, actually. According to Seriously Fish, they will eat microworms. You can get a microworm culture from Charles or Patrick for $5. Those worms are tiny, tiny!


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## Atom (Apr 21, 2010)

Thanks Maureen.

Sadly I just found one of the tigers dead in the tank. Must have died during the night. Not sure what happened. He looked fine when I went to bed last night.

I will look into microworms. Thanks.


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## Morainy (Apr 21, 2010)

Oh, I'm so sorry to hear that your beautiful, brand new tiger shrimp died. That is too bad! How is the other one?


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## Atom (Apr 21, 2010)

Thanks.

My parameters seem to be in check. I must have not acclimatized them long enough. I used a turkey baster and dripped water every 15 minutes for and hour and half.

What method do you use?

The other seems to be fine for now. I am missing a cherry though. It didn't come out during feeding this morning. Hopefully it is hiding somewhere.


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## Morainy (Apr 21, 2010)

Wow, your acclimatization process is better than mine. I just float the bag in the tank for about 30 minute to an hour, adding a swill of tank water every now and then (when I remember) and then net the shrimp out of the baggie into the tank. Or sometimes I put them into a container, add tank water, and then net them into the tank. I haven't been as careful as to use a turkey baster, or keep an eye on the time. 

Sometimes cherry shrimp just hide. Maybe they're moulting. They also like to dangle up in the water lettuce fronds or hide inside wood, and so on. Sometimes when I look into my little cherry shrimp tank, there are no shrimp in sight from any angle. An hour later - plenty of shrimp!


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## Mferko (Jun 8, 2010)

i empty out most of the water they came in and then use an airline with a knot tied in it to drip the tankwater into the bag slowly for a couple hours

hopefully your other cherry is just hiding after a molt they are the hardiest of the shrimps i tried


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## Diztrbd1 (Apr 21, 2010)

Tank looks great Atom, very good eye with the aquascaping. Sorry to hear you lost one of the tigers, got some probs myself with mine I can't figure out. Have lost almost all my adults and a few babies over the last week and a half....very frustrating for sure.


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## Mferko (Jun 8, 2010)

Diztrbd1 said:


> Tank looks great Atom, very good eye with the aquascaping. Sorry to hear you lost one of the tigers, got some probs myself with mine I can't figure out. Have lost almost all my adults and a few babies over the last week and a half....very frustrating for sure.


very frustrating

i love that red plant btw Atom


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## Diztrbd1 (Apr 21, 2010)

Mferko said:


> very frustrating
> 
> i love that red plant btw Atom


very much so...all was good , then one day just started noticing deaths daily really strange

I love that red plant too lol, looks great in there


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## Atom (Apr 21, 2010)

Thanks. I love red plants too. Adds a nice bit of colour but I have realized I really do need another light because every morning I have 3 to 5 leaves at the surface.

So far I have had 2 shrimp deaths out of the 8 that I have. Hopefully I get the hang of it. They really are very entertaining. At least it wasn't a very expensive rare shrimp, but the tiger was a nice contrast in the tank. Afraid to attempt crs now because I hear they are even more sensitive.


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## Atom (Apr 21, 2010)

So it's been more than 24 hours since I last saw the remaining tiger shrimp. I'm thinking the worse here.


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## Mferko (Jun 8, 2010)

sorry to hear that atom 
my bamboo shrimp is missing as of this morning too, i think he jumped out of the tank but cant find it i even checked inside the sponge filter


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## Atom (Apr 21, 2010)

Mferko said:


> sorry to hear that atom
> my bamboo shrimp is missing as of this morning too, i think he jumped out of the tank but cant find it i even checked inside the sponge filter


Sorry about your bamboo shrimp. Was he in your Ebi?

* Edit - Just found the body of my other Tiger


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## Atom (Apr 21, 2010)

I haven't updated this in a looong time.

Unfortunately these were taken a few weeks ago and the tank doesn't look like this anymore. All the Java fern and the corkscrew valls melted away and died. The tank is quite bare now.


















This side is almost completely bare now . Looking to fill it with something. Suggestions?

The inhabitants are doing well though so that's good. A few cherries lost along the way, but no fish deaths except for some diseased guppies I got from the LFS.


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## Unicorrs (Oct 26, 2011)

aww don't worry, your fishes look happy.
maybe you can still put some Vallisneria in the background
and avoid cluttering it with lots of plants


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