bitFUUL's 12" Cube of Calamity - Hi-Tek 7.5 Gallon REMIXED! (PICTURE HEAVY!)

[bitFUUL]

UPDATE!



Current Setup:
Date Started: May 24, 2010
Tank: 12" Rimless Mr. Aqua Cube - 7.5 Gallon MA-305
Filter: Eheim 2232 Eco Pro
Lighting: Finnex 26w Clip On (replaced with 18w bulb)
Lily Pipes: Cal Aqua Nano Filter Pipes
Substrate: Up Aqua Soil
CO2: DIY w/ ADA Do!Aqua mini Diffuser w/ ADA bubble Counter
Rocks: Florida Fieldstone

Current Plants:
Java Fern
Dwarf Hair Grass


Current Inhabitants:
about 100 15 Cherry Red Shrimp

[AoxomoxoA]

Nice
Be careful with your bass.
Your clover doesn't look so happy.

[bitFUUL]

Originally Posted by dirtyhermit

Your clover doesn't look so happy.

Yeah, hoping to Fred Savage even just a few buds...

[MARIMOBALL]

Im loving the KRK's and the 1200's. The driftwood looks like a bone. The lava doesnt look good either. The rest looks good I like the character of the stones. One type of stone looks more natural than mixing lava rock and the other.

[Morainy]

Very cool!

[VincentK]

I have the same tank, same brand, and same substrate!

[mgdmirage]

I think it looks great although i really dislike the wood, the lava rock and the moss ball lol. I love the steep scape though, very much!

[bitFUUL]

After sitting on it for 24 hours, I decided the slope in the rear of the tank needed to be more inclined. So I removed the wood and replaced it with something smaller and more enjoyable for the shrimp. Was also able to salvage a few more plants from my other tanks, curious to see how this all fills in. The Java Ball and Banana Plant are temporary as of now, but the shrimp seem to love them both. The Four Leaf Clover Dwarf is 90% dead, but I am hoping some of the green sprouts will live, otherwise I will need to get something else.

[nemosreef]

Very nice. I agree with the others I also do not like the driftwood. Other than that real nice.

[F22]

i like the wood, tie some weeping moss to it.

[bitFUUL]

Originally Posted by F22

i like the wood, tie some weeping moss to it.

I would love to get some.. soon enough... many of the plants that are in here are only temp, until I make my next plant order. For now everything looks pretty stable and the water is nice and clear.

But when it comes to the lighting, I felt the tank wasn't getting enough, so I purchased a second lamp and performed the following to achieve a DIY Nano tank lighting with 2 hampton bay lamps and a black wire dish drying rack. I used black zip ties to keep the lights attached to the rack.











Work still needs to be done to protect the ballasts, and a lot of the remaining dryer rack wire needs to be trimmed in certain areas and rebent to be flush. But for now it was pretty simple to get this far and my plants are now getting much more light. It will surely clean up well when I finish cutting the wires.

[bitFUUL]

It's been about 5 weeks now, did some shuffling of rocks and plants. Added some Riccia in the back and my HC is starting to finally takeoff, however, it has this crazy algae. Bad pictures, better ones to follow.

[Green024]

Looks like you have some thread algae. This algae guide is a good one, it gives a brief description, the cause, and the ways to remove whatever algae you may have.

A quick way to rid of it is to get a plastic syringe, turn your filter off for an hour, and try spot treating the infected places with either H2o2(peoxide) or your Flourish Excel. And repeat. You should start to notice it turn a reddish color, meaning its dieing off. Also, try using a fresh cheap toothbrush and spin it while touching the threads. Try this before the spot treatments(less algae to be spot treated ).

This is just the quick fix, this does not solve why you got it in the first place. My guess is that you need to start dosing the tank with some kind of Fert regimine. Also it could be from your Diy CO2 being inconsistent, remember when using a HOB filter with CO2 in the tank, the water level should all ways be up to the outflow of the filter. A waterfall effect would not be good with CO2 involved. This will help keep the CO2 in your water longer and allow the plants a chance to take it in.
And alas it could be from the Ammonia levels being off.

Unbury the roots of your Java Fern, I think that's a no-no for that plant =]. If you want your HC to spread a little quicker, try spreading it really thin in the area you want it to cover. It will help you achieve the carpet you may possibly want faster.


I really like cube tanks, thank you for sharing it with us! I look forward to seeing your battle with this thread algae.

[bitFUUL]

Thanks for the tips Green.. I just got in there and aggressively pulled it out with my fingers, then dosed a higher amount of Excel. This tank seems to be doing pretty well though, unlike my 3g.

Will post more pics soon.

[WeedCali]

Very nice tank.

And i noticed some KRK monitors? do you produce?