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Heather's 27 Gallon Cube//mini update 1.5.12. Low light, low tech

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#1 · (Edited)
I'm upgrading my 10 gallon into this tank and have just set it up tonight. Plants in literally minutes ago :D

Specs:

Tank: Marineland 27 gallon cube w/ stand
Lighting: Marineland 9 watt Double Bright LED fixture w/ moonlights, supplemented with 30 watts spiral CFL DIY from my 10 (will adjust with more/less light as necessary)
Filtration: Rena XP2
Substrate: 1.5 bags Flora Max
Co2: None as of now. I ran DIY on my 10 but I've nixed some of the high-tech plants from that tank and want to see how this one fares with Excel only. I know I'll probably get sucked back into the world of red plants though (not to mention my lighting...I can't help it, I love a bright tank) and at that time will do DIY again until I can save for a pressurized system.

Flora (at present, and too lazy to remember the scientific names, forgive me):
Java Moss
Flame Moss
Christmas Moss
Peacock Moss
Dwarf Hair Grass
Microsword
Narrow-Leaf Java Fern
Sunset Hygro
Anubias Nana
Cryptocoryne Lutea
Cryptocoryne Wendtii Bronze
Rotala sp.
Mystery Val
Unknown plant probably a Wisteria-like Hygro (same leaf shape as water wisteria, only the leaves are variegated)

Fauna (tentative)
8 Cardinal Tetra
2 German Blue Ram
3 Albino Corydoras
6 Von Rio Tetra
1 yoyo loach

I have 5 cardinals as of now, the GBRs, yoyo and corydoras (overstocked for a ten I know! But they're moving up on Friday!) And a lonely Von Rio tetra who was a charity case. He was shipped into work with the Serpaes so I brought him home to wait it out for my eventual larger tank, which I've got now, so first chance I get I'm going to get him some buddies for a proper school.

Anyway I know that bioload is still a little high, but I'm overfiltered and religious about my water changes so hopefully it will work out :)

Anyway, no pictures as of right now because I'm presently without a computer/internet due to moving just a week ago (I'm only able to post now because of the wonders of mobile phones) but hopefully I can get some up Friday when I go to my dad's to pick up the fishies.
 
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#3 · (Edited)
Haha I know, I'm awful. I was just so excited to start the thread I couldn't help myself! Pics tomorrow when I get to a computer, I promise! For now I'm doing all my updates on my phone and the pictures it takes are just awful.

Ok, ok. Crappy mobile photo here:


It's very bare right now since it's only ten gallons worth of plants, but it's a start!



Did that work? It's not showing up on my phone.
 
#5 ·
Yeah I'm looking forward to experimenting with the aquascape in the size it is :) I fell in love with it instantly, haha. I work at a PetSmart and we got it in on tuesday, bought it wednesday. Tank love at first sight!

And no :( Sadly the conure is a friend's, but I fostered him for the better part of a year and he's still got a piece of my heart.
 
#6 ·
The post you've all been waiting for...Pictures!

FTS:

VERY bare right now! I'll get more plants in there soon, I promise!

3/4 view:


And a shot of some of the cards and 1/2 of my GBR pair:



And a random cute one:



Anyway, it's starting to come along and I'm very glad to have it around. I'm tempted to rehome the lonely von rio and do all cardinals though, they look so cool under the blue moonlights!

I'm getting a black background tomorrow...and that powerhead isn't staying ugly there...I just put it in from the old tank for more bacteria to be present to minimize the cycle. I might keep it if I need it, but if I can get by without it it'll be gone ASAP.

Comments, critiques, suggestions?
 
#7 ·
A few more today, yes my camera sucks. I used to use my sister's, but now that I've moved out that's not really practical.

Anyway, added some java fern and alternanthera reineckii. Have didiplis diandra, cryptocoryne balansae and echinodorus vesuvius on the way and that will be it for a bit. I'll let things grow in and go from there :D







And my little helper for kicks:

She's actually the reason that tall val back there only has one leaf. She thought it would be fun to destroy some of my plants while I wasn't looking.


On another note, I have to say I'm really enjoying the floramax substrate color. Previously I used a black substrate and I really like the variations in color of this substrate. It reseems more natural to me.
 
#8 ·
Just a small pictureless update. The tank is doing well. All fish made it through the move and the measures I took to prevent a cycle have worked, didn't get any parameter spikes :)

The plants have adjusted and have started to grow. And no crypt melt as of now so I'm very happy. I didn't want my fairly large lutea to have to start over. I have new red and pink growth on the rotala and hygro and my mosses have fresh green growth (as if I need any more moss!).

I have discovered that dry ferts will be absolutely necessary. With my 10 I used the flourish line, but those will run out quickly in this tank so I'm going to invest in some dry ferts once I get paid.
 
#9 ·
Payday! And that means dry ferts. I just ordered NPK and Plantex CSM+B from GLA.

Once I consume the contents of a few 2-liters I have around here I'm going to rig up DIY Co2. I've decided just to go with it given I'd rather prevent algae in the first place than spend months fighting it off once it starts to bloom. Then I'll go with the EI dosing method with the dry ferts and hopefully the tank will begin to flourish.

Also, a pressurized system may be in the works sooner than expected. Living on my own again has once more turned me into a thrifty girl and I've managed to save quite a bit of money this month, even with tank-related purchases (and new apartment-related purchases, for that matter!) Hopefully I won't have to run DIY for too long!
 
#11 ·
Thank you! And yeah I ran DIY on my 10 gallon and even though the tank spent a few months being "perfect" just as I wanted it, the DIY was a PITA. That was mostly because of the location though and how hard it was to access for changing out the mixture (it was on a baker's rack with minimal space) but the 2 liters will fit nicely under my stand now so I may be able to tolerate it better this go around. Optimally pressurized will happen within 3-4 months, but if not at least I (presumably) won't hate DIY with this tank.
 
#12 ·
Got my plants. None to thrilled. The crypt was small and pathetic, they left out the didiplis diandra, sent two bunches of ludwigia instead (one of which has rotted to nothing). The only thing I was impressed with was the swordplant. I've been making attempts to contact the company but they won't return my calls. I'll keep trying, but they've lost my business for good.

In other news, my GLA order came in and I'm fairly excited to start an EI regimen on my tank. I'll rig up the Co2 tomorrow and start dosing then. Silver linings, eh?
 
#13 ·
I ordered some plants and they came in kind of rough too. It was cool to bring them back though. I don't think I got more than a quarter inch off of any plant.

When I got my CO2 I wanted to stare at it for hours on end in utter satisfaction. I have a helper/fisherman too. I feel your pain. The tank is looking nice.
 
#15 ·
Update!

I rescaped tonight and it's still cloudy (in addition to mobile phone pics) but I wanted to show you all the progress I've made with this tank. I bought a new piece of driftwood and love the effect it has. It's visually pretty to me and it's functional. The shy/light-sensitive fish have a place to chill where I can still see them.

Anyway, a pic!!

 
#16 ·
Updates! With real photos!

As I mentioned in the last post, I'm really liking how the tank is coming along...I'm only having minimal algae issues (some GSA and a wee bit of BBA that I've been nuking with Excel) and finally today got around to hooking up my DIY Co2 (don't judge...I work 2.5* jobs!) so hopefully that'll change.

*I draw for $$ along with my two other jobs

Anyway, on to the moment you've all been waiting for, Pics!

Obligatory FTS:

Hopefully this manages to convey the awesome cave I've got going on with the driftwood better than my bb pic in the last post. As soon as I bought this tank I thought MUST HAVE MANZANITA! but I rather like the hardscape it has going now so I'm pretty sure it's gonna stay that way...unless I get bored with it in 6 months.

The "cave" up close:


Look at how much space I still have to work with:

SWEET. I'm planning on doing a real-deal foreground with this. Maybe not as awesome as HC or glosso, but that little tuft of microsword in there? I hope that guy covers the whole floor. Ideally I want a blyxa "barrier" between the taller plants and the forground for some variety, but we'll see what happens.

Random:

Uh oh...what's that over there? Lil baby tank. Fluval Chi. Will have a thread for it in the nano tanks section following this update :)

Tank from my level:


Tank from below:

Duckweed is a horrible horrible monster. I net out and throw away so much every day I want to bang my head against the wall...but I still thought this pic looked cool.

Anyway, now that it's starting to come together...comments, critiques please?
 
#19 ·
Since I have a 8 gallon cube in its second week now, this tank looks extremely good to me. I like the general layout which gives the fish so much room to swim and be seen. It does look very bright, so I wonder about how much light you have. Over all it looks like I hope my little one will look soon!
 
#21 ·
@spooble, thank you! And I completely agree about too much substrate. Once it cools off I'm going to order some more foreground cover...I'm afraid to do it when it's hot because I work so much and it would sit in the mailbox all day.

@Hoppy, thank you :) that's exactly why I like the cube..lots of room for plants AND still a good swimming area for fish. I have 9watts "double bright" LED (marineland, came with the tank) and 56 watts spiral CFL. Not sure what that rates this tank as, but I've had very minimal algae issues and lots of plant growth thus far so I'm happy with it!

@kwheeler91, I'm slowly eradicating it but it's a big PITA. Never again will I mess with the stuff!
 
#24 ·
Mini disaster!

My yoyo loach committed suicide yesterday and today I came home in between jobs to find 2 Von Rios floating and every other fish (sans cory cats with their oxygen-digesting abilities and all) gasping at the surface.

Gassed. My Co2 isn't even bubbling (made an error and didn't mix it right) but I normally run an airstone at night because I keep my tank at 82 (hot I know, but the fish have colored up immensely with the temps, they love it) and at those temps with oxygen being lower I suppose the plants consumed too much o2 given I haven't run the airstone the past two nights.

Anyway, I plugged in the air stone and slowly cycled the lights on so it didn't stress the fish more. They're not due to come on til 6pm (I keep odd hours working two jobs and all) but I wanted the plants to stop using the o2 so it could be available to the fish.

Everyone's happy now, but I always feel bad when I'm responsible for loss of life.
 
#25 ·
Big changes this coming weekend :)

An awesome forum member on here who lives in my town gave me some leftover manzanita he had and now that it's finally sinking I've got a big rescape coming on my night off this Saturday :)

I've decided to go back to a black substrate and have rinsed the heck out of my leftover Eco Complete from my 10 gallon to get it ready for this weekend. I'm just going to lay it over top of the FloraMax and hope it stays relatively separated. If not I'll worry about it later, haha. Anyway, just an update on what's going on. Picture update Saturday or Sunday!
 
#27 ·
Same thing happened to me today. It sucks loosing fish to co2 or lack of oxygen. I feel your pain. Great member to give you manzanita! I look forward to the updated pictures. How do you find time to have a tank with 2.5 jobs? I am in admiration.
Yes it was pretty sad :( And lucky enough for me, my lights come on at 6pm and go off at 4am and between about 11pm and 3-4am I'm home and awake so maintenance gets done, haha. Yeah I keep weird hours but it works for me!

And I'm already loving the manzanita...it's super cloudy right now, but clearing up by the minute. I'll have plants back in tonight and hopefully pics tomorrow!
 
#28 ·
Well, I worked this morning and thought I'd be off tonight to get pics up, but my other job called me in (yay for 7am to 12pm workdays! Meh) so I won't be able to get to my mom's to upload pics. It's kind of OK though because the tank is still cloudy (that floramax is nasty stuff...even after countless rinsings). I'm actually off the whole day tomorrow though (!!!) So I"l get them up then!
 
#29 ·
I just picked up the same tank and light today. Its filled with water and stuffed full of plants working on the cycle. I seen the tank and I just had to have it. Its such a cool little tank with so much that can be done with it. I plan on starting a thead with mine here tonight or tomorrow.
 
#30 ·
That's what I thought. We got it in at work...I pondered it for a night, went in the next day and bought it. It was just perfect for where I wanted my tank and wasn't too big for my depressingly small apartment. Well, it's not that small, just awkwardly shaped with no long/not bent walls/halls good for larger tank placement.

Hope you have as much fun with yours as I have so far with mine!
 
#31 ·
Oh my god. Crispino Ramos's plant packages are awesome. I've got so many plants I don't know what to do with them.

I ran out of plant weights* so I've got dozens of stems (like a 3inch layer covering the whole tank surface!) just floating waiting to find their homes in the scape. I'll pick some up at work tonight when I take my mini-hellbeast** of a dog in for her training class and will get photos then :) Lights aren't on til 6 anyway.

* not the method of choice, I know, but when I order non-rooted cuttings I always have to use plant weights until they root. My full-sized cory cats send them floating otherwise...shoulda got pygmys, but I love the ones I have.

** she's not that bad...just was a rescue who has no manners, really, though she's improved greatly since she's been in our home!
 
#32 ·
Now for photos, only three, but this is the new scape. A little collectoritis-y, but all the plants probably won't stick around. I'll give away the ones that don't grow well because I know my tank can't support the lighting needs of some of them. Also I have some anubias, java ferns and some mosses and fissidens that will go on the DW eventually.

Here's the tank before I got my big plant package today:


And now to transform into collectoritis!
FTS:


3/4 view:



My camera sucks. It made everything all yellow, but I'll try again after a few days once the slight cloudiness has subsided.


I like it. I've always liked jungle tanks. I decided to organize it with a "crypt corner" then all the stems on the right. I don't know why but I like it that way. I think the kompakt is going to go though. Or at least find a different place.
 
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