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Cubecrew's 7g Nano Cube

10K views 92 replies 14 participants last post by  cubecrew 
#1 · (Edited)
Hey everyone,

I've had this cube as my only tank and have rescaped it several times. After a 2 month battle with GHA, I decided to get my act together and rescape. I will try my best to monitor parameters more closely, but also relax and try and enjoy.

I'm quite a noob but have lurked this forum since getting into the hobby a bit over a year ago. Now here to share, get feedback, and advice.

Shoutout to @Ventchur who inspired me to join the cube crew.

Updated 7/14/2021

Livestock:
6 Amano Shrimp

Plants:
Eleocharis parvula
Cryptocoryne wendtii brown
Staurogyne repens
Bucephalandra red mini
Bucephalandra godzilla
Hygrophila pinnatifida

Hardscape:
Spider Wood
ADA Aquasoil Powder
ADA Powersand

Equipment:
7g ADA Nano Cube 30C
ADA ES-150 Super Jet filter
5lb CO2, Solonoid
Twinstar 300EA
Waveform Filmgrade LED Dimmer

Schedule
CO2 09:00 - 18:00 (~1BPS)
Light 10:00 - 19:00 (~80%)

Most recent photo:
1031441
 
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1
#2 ·
Tank is still cycling, but nitrite and nitrate are rising now. I am dosing with prime.

Bad news first. I introduced 4 Amano shrimp to the aquarium a couple days ago. Last night 3 of them were sidewise, and eventually died. One is still on the go looking fine. My LFS warned me that their Amano weren't doing so well so it wasn't a wild surprise, though still a bummer. Looking at the spec sheet when purchasing more shrimp I see recommended parameters are all in range except for GH (6-16dH). My tank measured 3dH last night so I bumped it up to 6. This morning the remaining one looks fine, I'll keep a close eye. I went ahead and ordered more shrimp too.

I'm dealing with a tube fitting and aesthetic issue now as well. When scaping as you can see I went with a raised background, and I can no longer fit my inlet pipe unless it's wildly hanging on the back, so I have to put on side towards the front. Since the cabinet is not flush to that side, the tubing needs to bend, and in a short distance. I think I'll try and use elbows here.

On the good news side, I think my cardinals are getting less stressed. They weren't eating pellets from surface or floor, so I tried hatching some brine shrimp for them. The absolutely loved it. So amazing to see them perk up, eat and now color is better as well.

Still waiting on more plants to arrive. I got 6 or 7 different species to add, will update soon.
 
#4 ·
I see a couple of problems. Shrimp need hardish water, your fish like soft acid water. The bogwood will be putting tannic acids into the water lowering the pH and the tannins will chelate and precipitate out some of the hardness.

Basically your shrimp are not ideal for your setup. Ideally hard, alkaline fish (livebearers, african cichlids, crabs, shrimp) like hard alkaline water while soft acid fish (tetras, angels, gourami, loaches, fish from forest streams) like soft acid water. There are some fish like kribensis who are in the middle but you should avoid mixing the extremes.

Sorry to tell you this. I have ramshorn snails in my 10g planted soft acid to provide babies for my sidthimunki loaches to eat but those snails have white shells because of the acid. I grow replacements in my 'pond' which is alkaline and medium hard.

Also you should NEVER be able to see nitrites. That you are doing so is an indication that you have not cycled the tank before adding too much aquatic animal flesh. Your shrimp likely died from nitrite poisoning. You should cycle a tank with one or two small, hardy fish. A couple of those cardinals would have been good. Then monitor the nitrite levels and when they zero GRADUALLy add more fish.

Once you get more than one tank you can speed things up by using filter media from the other tank and a handful of 'dirty' gravel. If you have a friend with a tank ask to swap a little gravel. Old gravel will be packed with nitrifying bacteria. I keep two filter foams in my 'pond' in case I need to use my internal power filter in an emergency situation. They will be full of bacteria you see.
 
#5 ·
Double elbow all the way across the sky?

:)

Cute little tank, looks like you’ve got a solid setup so far (I had to google that ADA filter and then change my underwear after).

Off the bat I would agree with muscle guy. It seems like the nitrites would be the cause, though I’m sure the other parameters also put them under stress like he mentioned. The good news is with such a small tank it would be hard at all to premix and buff the water before adding it to tank.

Hope I get to watch this little cube thrive!

CA


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
#6 ·
Thanks for dropping in Muscleguy and CluelessAquarist!

I rescaped this tank before starting this journal and used same livestock and filter (bio cubes, bio rio, purigen) except for a few more amanos. It was was fully cycled for almost a year previous. I initially suspected the bacteria colony in filter would sustain but I think it either decreased significantly or fully collapsed. I assumed some detoxifier would allow for re-cycling while stocked.

I made the same observation regarding the shrimp and the current water parameters, but didn't know cardinal tetras required softer water to the degree they couldn't coexist. Is there really no way? I have been really looking forward to having some Amanos to help keep algae at bay.

Bummer!

Also as much as I'd love to have more than one tank, I'm not sure that's in cards here for at least a year or two.
 
#10 ·
The Amano and Cardinals will do fine in the same tank together, and are a better option than something like Neocaridina since Neo's generally require some KH and your substrate will buffer that out until it loses its buffering capacity. As long as your pH is being kept low by the ADA(releasing humic acid) and CO2, the ammonia will be in the form of ammonium. Plants love it and it has a low toxicity by comparison. Still, since you've got livestock, you'll need to be doing regular large water changes to keep the water safe. Nitrites are still toxic, so while cycling, a daily shot of Prime would be a good idea to help protect livestock. Prime will bind ammonia/ammonium for roughly 24-48 hours, so err on the side of caution and do every 24 hours.

You can try to keep the GH a bit higher, around 6, and the Amano will appreciate that more, but I believe the ADA will also try to buffer out some GH so just be aware you may have a parameter battle until the buffering capacity is exhausted. Amano are fairly hardy and as long as there isn't ammonia or nitrites present, I think they'll do great in your tank.
 
#8 ·
I'm a firm advocate of fishless cycling. There are many ways to cycle a tank without adding any type of fish/snail/shrimp. But I digress...

Nice little tank indeed. Very tidy. Keep up on the trimming of the Monte Carlo, I learned my lesson with HC. Watch out for that Crypt as well, they love to send runners all over the tank. If you can, place clear plastic into the substrate around the Crypt to keep it "contained".

Gary
 
#12 ·
Algae is starting to grow quite rapidly. Really not sure what kind of algae this is, but it's the same that plagued my previous scape in this tank.

Light is at 9 hours (10:00-19:00) and I'm running CO2 at around 1BPS 1 hour before lights with nice lime green drop checker

Parameters just before lights went off today are as follows:

1ppm ammonia
0 nitrite
~0 nitrate
0 phosphate
6 GH
6.5PH

Seems awfully early to get worried, but then again this same algae took over my last scape and I eventually gave up the fight. Pics below, maybe someone here can help identify the type?

Fluid Liquid Glass Transparent material

Organism Underwater Algae Marine biology Natural material

Liquid Leaf Moisture Fluid Botany
 
#14 ·
Algae is starting to grow quite rapidly. Really not sure what kind of algae this is, but it's the same that plagued my previous scape in this tank.

Light is at 9 hours (10:00-19:00) and I'm running CO2 at around 1BPS 1 hour before lights with nice lime green drop checker

Parameters just before lights went off today are as follows:

1ppm ammonia
0 nitrite
~0 nitrate
0 phosphate
6 GH
6.5PH

Seems awfully early to get worried, but then again this same algae took over my last scape and I eventually gave up the fight. Pics below, maybe someone here can help identify the type?

View attachment 893529
View attachment 893531
View attachment 893533
I believe you're looking at diatoms there. It will have a brown color, coat surfaces, and can get stringy. Strings are easily broken with a gentle touch, whereas hair algae threads are more resilient. This is not uncommon in new setups, also with tap water high in silicates. Generally self resolving, you could chemically treat, but I think doing daily water changes to knock down the ammonia/ammonium and nitrites might be a better option. Also, probably time to start dosing some water column fertilizers to help plant health so your plants are out competing the algae. 0 nitrates isn't good, though your aquasoil will compensate to some degree for the 0 reading in the water column. You'll want to dose your macros (NPK) and micros (maybe something like CSM+B) to ensure your plants are getting everything they need.

Are you using RO or RODI, or are you using tap water?

Here's a link to algae info, diatoms is at the bottom. https://www.advancedplantedtank.com/control-algae-types.html
 
#13 ·
Green Thread Algae. That is super early in your tank's life to get this. You need fast growing plants. I would suggest adding some Frogbit or something similar to soak up some excess nutrients.

Put your photoperiod to 8 hours.

Are you dosing? Are you doing this every day? I dose Mon - Wed - Fri. Sat and Sun are rest days. Flourish Excel is Mon - Fri.

HINT: Flourish Excel is a great algaecide. Get an eyedropper and target dose the algae and it will crumble away, it's getting it to stay away is the big trick.

What are you using for water? I use RO/DI. I will never go back to regular tap water. Too many unknowns coming out of that faucet. While I won't suggest making the switch right away, start using 30% RO/DI to 70% treated tap water mixture when adding back to the tank.

Do a water change in the middle of the week until the problem goes away. If you change your water on Sunday, do a change on Wednesday.

Speaking of which, if you have don't have a set schedule for water changes, now is the time. Set aside a few hours on a specific day and that's the day.

No science, just some good old fashioned elbow grease.

Gary
 
#15 ·
What are you using for water? I use RO/DI. I will never go back to regular tap water. Too many unknowns coming out of that faucet. While I won't suggest making the switch right away, start using 30% RO/DI to 70% treated tap water mixture when adding back to the tank.
Are you using RO or RODI, or are you using tap water?
Using tap water. I will do some more research but my impression is that for owning a single 7 gallon tank investing in a RO system is way overkill. Is that reasonable?

It's definitely brown, and although it develops strings in some places, it crumbles away easily and most is vacuumed up quite easily except for what is directly in contact with leaves/etc. Last time this covered my S repens carpet to the degree they were severely weakened. Amano's don't seem to like it, nerite snails don't seem to like it either.

Quite anxiously awaiting the addition of more plants, they should be arriving today. I'm hoping I can plant the hell out of this and the plants can out compete (in addition to looking much better).

For the time being, I've changed the photo period to 4 - 2 - 4 as I've seen recommended, and I just did a 75% water change with a 6ml spot treated dose of Excel, and regular dose of general fert (Easy Green). I contemplated dosing H202 but I will hold off until new plants are in and continue frequent water changes and Excel dosing.

The last remaining Amano shrimp passed last night. I actually suspect it was shortly after a fert dose that it really started struggling.
 
#21 ·
Thanks for all the info gang, journaling this here has already proven hugely valuable and more fun!

I will pick up some RO water, and maybe go ahead and order a compact RO system.

Excel treatment doesn't seem to have obliterated anything, though some of the leaves spot treated on the Bacopa are lighter now. I introduced two new plant species (Dwarf Sagittaria and Scarlet Temple) and I've decided to start on a "V" shape. 3 more plant species due to come in, looking forward to getting more plant mass in here.

Going to dose some more Excel today, in addition to continuing with Prime as ammonia still reading around 1ppm and tank still not completely cycled. I will wait another day before doing another big water change.

Latest pic
Wood Glass Botany Natural material Twig
 
#22 ·
RODI System came in. Did another 30% or so water change. Still dosing Excel as Ammonia reading at .5 ppm, but nitrites back down to 0ppm. Ferts and nitrifying bacteria (i assume contributing) bringing nitrates to around 20ppm.

Question for folks here...the ph in my tap reads around 8.2 out of the faucet, but when left to gas off after 24-36 hours it stabilizes at around 7. Water in my tank tests around 6 during CO2 injection maybe even lower. This seems like a pretty wild swing may be occurring during water changes. Is that a problem?

Should I be concerned with this, and take care to let water sit for a while before changing, or is it safe to change water and let this happen in the tank?

FWIW tap reads about 2KH and 2GH, I am bringing aquarium up to 5GH with Equilibrium.
 
#26 ·
Ammonia is now down to 0, I believe tank is fully cycled (10 days after re-scape). Algae level is steady if not still increasing a bit. I have a full 5 gallon bucket of off-gased RODI water for the next few water changes.

The remaining plants I ordered came in, was super excited to plant. I ended up removing some of the Bacopa to make room for the rotala in the back.

Plants added:
Anubias Nana Petie
Rotala Rotundifolia
Rotala H'Ra
Cryptocoryne Spiralis.

I also re-introduced some Amano shrimp, they look great so far...
 

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#27 ·
I see you are using a Violet Lily Pipe as well. While I find it great for pushing CO2 into places where it should be, what it lacks is any type of surface water movement.

This is why I have that little powerhead in mine. I found without the water movement, introduction of CO2 that my inhabitants are not liking that. Also, it will help break up any oils or fats that build up on the surface of the water.

I plan to upgrade my Eheim to a larger one and create a DUAL Output. One Violet for continued CO2 pushing and the other a Jet for moving water therefore eliminating my need for the powerhead.

Keep an eye on that.

Gary
 
#29 ·
Hence why I am constructing a Dual output system. If it passes my testing it will resolve plunking a powerhead in there. Create water flow and still push CO2.

I'll need a larger Eheim to ensure good flow to both outputs as my 2211 may not be able to perform well in this current configuration.

Gary



Sent from my SM-T280 using Tapatalk
 
#31 ·
Looks like you have decent flow, I can see the surface of the water moving.

When I shut off my Powerhead, my water becomes very still. I believe the 2211 is a bit under rated for a tank this size and that 2213 to 2217 would have been better. Either way, a dual system would resolve all my issues.

Maybe just a hint more surface agitation would be good, but not much, looks like you are doing better in the filter department than I.

Gary
 
#32 ·
Installed another elbow so that the outflow pipe wasn't stressed, and I can point it just right to keep flow max.

6 Amano shrimp seem to be fitting right in. I had issues with Amano shrimp even before potential Nitrite problems for new cycle, and in retrospect I think the sizeable pH shifts from changing water without letting it sit first were really doing a number on them before. I understand they are a lot more sensitive to water parameter changes, and I think pH was perhaps the only parameter that was wildly different. Excited about the stability and consistency having off-gased RODI water in a bucket on the ready will offer.

Plant growth looks good, really excited about the Rotala! Nitrates were somewhere around or just over 30ppm yesterday, did about a 75% water change. I've decided to dial back the light period length to 6 hours. Algae level is increasing a bit, although not out of control. Dosing recommended Excel daily (around .5ml)

Hoping I can let 'er settle in for the week and do a big cleaning/maintenance this weekend.
 

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#33 ·
Nitrates are jumping to 20-30 within around 2 days it seems. Not sure if it's still coming from substrate or I've stocked this tank too much It doesn't seem reasonable to suspect overstocking though...

Algae is still increasing, I turned light intensity down to about 50% as well.

Did a good 50% water change and maintenance this morning, and took a photo.
 

Attachments

#35 ·
#cubecrew



How old is this tank now? I'd say just keep up with the large frequent water changes to beat back that algae.



Excited to see that background fill in, keep it up!

Thanks for stopping by Ventchur!

It's been just over two weeks since I did the complete rescape.

Hard to tell for sure but it looks like the crypts may not be melting...is it too early to tell?

I added a couple thin pieces of plastic in substrate between the monte carlo and midground to avoid runners in both directions.

Doing about 50% changes every two days. Algae seems to have plateaued for now, but a good bit of surface film builds up in just the 48 hours between changes. I have a different 10mm jardli lily pipe coming in which i believe may be more suitable.

As much as I dig the quietness and aesthetics of the ADA ES-150 filter the fact that the outflow is 10mm, rather than standard 13mm (which strangely the inflow is as well) makes finding components more difficult.

I've been searching for inline diffusers as well as double release valves for this size with little to no luck outside of Ali Express bulk orders maybe.




Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
#36 ·
Fairly certain I lost a shrimp. I pulled what I thought was a part of molted shell off filter intake but I have been searching occasionally for about a day now and I can only locate 5 shrimp.

Ammonia reading 0 if not somewhere below 0.25ppm. Wondering whether I should rinse filter media as a proactive measure.

I stopped dosing prime outside of water changes almost a week ago now, light intensity down to 50% at 6 hours per day seems to be holding algae steady. Snails and shrimp are cranking away.

I have some baby brine shrimp on the go for the tetras. Feeding them has been a constant source of frustration. They don't feed from top or bottom of tank. I've found some pellets that sink slowly but it's impossible not to end up with pellets on the ground.

Strangely at my LFS the cardinal tetras there just swarm and demolish pellet food immediately. Perhaps mine are stressed or I'm over feeding? I only feed every 2 days now, sometimes going longer.
 
#37 ·
Still can't find 6th shrimp, though I'm certain now what was in filter was just a molt.

New lily pipe came in. Tank flow seems really good, though faster on the opposite end of the outflow. I am seeing more diatom and green algae on the plants in that area. Wondering if it's because that's where the diffuser is as well, as that's where more of the CO2 bubbles are making direct contact with plants.

Tried to show here:
 
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