Started playing around with a new setup today. 25cm Aqua Pro cube. This will be a low tech setup with moss covered lava rocks and easy to grow un-demanding plants. Here's a few low quality phone shots. I'm contemplating adding more Aquasoil for added depth. What do you guys think? I understand that the stones will be covered up eventually. That is the plan. The stand is an Eheim aquastyle 4. Got it on Amazon for $47 shipped!
This will most likely house a betta and an amano shrimp. Maybe a couple of ottos.
Finally filled today. Unfortunately cannot add livestock since I got some ammonia readings. My test kit is pretty old tho. So I may have to test it. To make sure it's accurate.
Very nice. That tank should have very minimal issues with that much growth from the get-go. Bravo! As for my cube....wood will be here Monday or Tuesday. Setup will be Wednesday or Thursday.
Update. Starting to see diatom algae and did some testing a few days ago. High nitrites and ammonia seems to be on the decline. Shouldn't be long before cycle is complete. I didn't realize I would still have to cycle after dry-starting a tank. I would assume all my bacteria would have been established by now. Kind of weird. I even put some media from my filter into this filter and still had high ammonia. Must be the Aquasoil. I've heard it was nutrient rich but this is ridiculous! Plants are growing very well and I'm almost due for a trim. I think my light levels are just right. High enough for medium plant growth but low enough that algae does not get out of control. Here's a pic from yesterday.
Yes! So far they've ate blackworms, white worms, brine shrimp and yesterday I tried feeding them some frozen baby brine and they ate some of that too. but not the female. she wouldnt touch it. Right now, I have a bit of white worms that I am trying to grow out so I can always have a steady supply of live food for them. feeding is the only tough part.
My dario dario pair only eat frozen brine shrimps. They ignore frozen brine shrimps and frozen bloodworms .
At one point i had to use a tweezer and wave the bloodworms to convince them to give them a try, they took one or two...but they wont eat any frozen bloodworms on the substrate...
One of the pickiest fish when it comes to food imo
Mmmmm fluorescent blue fin edges. My favorite part of Scarlet Badis. Reminds me, I need to get my cube thread started soon, lol. Want any L. pantanal? Stuff grows like a freaking weed for me.
Here is a quick update on the cube. Some issues that I'm dealing with. 1. Various stems that I have behind the crypts have been growing really really slow. Rotala, hygro Vietnam 'mini', ludwigia red, and r nanjenshan. Some say it could be not enough flow from my hob. Maybe a possibility. But I have the flow pretty high. It does get clogged with algae from time to time so it's not consistent. 2. I'm dealing with some green hair algae that builds up on the glass and some plants. I've been cleaning it off the glass and doing water. changes every week. I'm considering doing a paintball set up on this tank because I believe my lighting my be slightly to high. Even though I got about 25 PAR at the substrate. Other than that things are ok, the M. Umbrosum is growing really well and I love the bushy look even with no co2. My moss idea on the lava rocks isn't quite working out. As the moss hasn't really stuck. Just kind of floated off. Only a couple of the stones look good, for example the rock with the fissidens looks great. The java moss is just ugly. Let me know what you guys think.
Hey! Thank you very much. Makes me feel happy when someone appreciates my work/tank. We had a house warming party(post-sandy) finally after a year in our place and there was a ton of kids. And it amazes me how much the kids loved the tank. The adults mehh. Not so much lol.
Anyway, this tank needs a desparate trim! I'm also letting the GDA on the glass run its course. Haven't cleaned it in a week and a half. The stems still don't look that great. I think I'll hold off on the Co2 for now and just buy a bunch of submerged grown stems see what happens. Maybe I didn't plant enough from the beginning. It the light just isn't enough in that back corner. Or add more crypts...Who knows. Here is the latest. Thanks again
25cm AquaTop high-clarity cube: $40 shipped. LED fixture: $30 shipped. Substrate + plants of your choice, based upon your budget. AquaClear 20: $25 shipped.
You can definitely do something nice and top of the line for $150.
Hey thanks. Been meaning to post a pic.. Not much has changed. Plants are
doing ok I guess but growth is super slow. The stems don't do well in the PAR that this light puts out I realized. So I ordered a different light. I will post a pic with the new light set up soon.
Well. I ordered the fugeray -R clip on light for this tank. I'll report back on growth and let you know. I'm hoping the addition of reds will help with growth.
Thanks! I agree about the blue. I think it may have contributed to my algae issues as well. But I have no scientific evidence about that. Just a hunch.
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