# ADA Cube Garden - 1/01/2012



## 2wheelsx2

Decided to start the New Year off with a bang and finally got around to getting the cube dry started with HC.

Thanks to jiang604 for your advice and help, Pat from Canadian Aquatics for the Aquasoil and HC (and there was a ton of it), Charles for the LED.

Equipment used:

ADA 30cm cube garden
Beamworks 12" LED light
ADA New Amazonia
Tom Rapids canister filter (to be used when the tank is flooded)
Leftover flagstone from yardwork originally from Northwest Landscaping

Flora:
HC

Fauna:
None until dry start is completed.

Not sure what other plants are going in it, but I fancy some S. repens or UG in the back and sides above the "cliff" but haven't decided. I just wanted the HC going and there was so much from the cell cultured stuff from Pat that I filled the whole cube. Still have a half a portion left floating in my 20 gallon growout tank, visible in the full shot.


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## Diztrbd1

Sounds cool Gary .....looking forward to seeing the progress and some pix


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## 2wheelsx2

Anyway, on with the pics:

All the gear. you can hardly see the LED light, it's so slim.









Washed cube up close. You have to see these ADA tanks in person to appreciate what a work of art they are. There is NO visible silicone.









Oops, forgot something in the first shot....added the flora:









Planted HC. Took about 15 minutes with forceps. Finally had use for my planting kit. 









Side view:









Misted, plastic wrapped, and light in place:









This is where the tank is. Stand was a DIY I used at work a long time ago, that a friend made for me. Sturdy but nothing special. Growout tank has L10a, L147, L333, L066, and L134 juvies, along with a bazillion cherry shrimp for cleanup.


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## 2wheelsx2

Diztrbd1 said:


> Sounds cool Gary .....looking forward to seeing the progress and some pix


Too quick on the draw John. Pics are up.


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## Diztrbd1

Somehow I had a feeling I was :bigsmile: lol Looks great, I'm liking your grow out tank as well.


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## 2wheelsx2

Diztrbd1 said:


> Somehow I had a feeling I was :bigsmile: lol Looks great, I'm liking your grow out tank as well.


Thanks John. It's been a long time coming. I've had this tank since the summer. I was just dying to set it up but my job was in flux and I didn't know where to put it. It's going up on my desk in my home office now. As for the growout, it's a bit of a shameful mess, but it's easy to maintain (I change 25% of the water almost every day) and I already had everything. I am hoping to be growing out a pile of L134's this spring when they get going again.


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## target

Man, shoulda let me know you were starting. I still have that super big chunk of HC floating in my 15g tank at work. Let me know if you want it and we can work it out. Might be enough to fully cover the bottom of your tank. Looks good though.


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## crazy72

Very nice, Gary. Have you seen the one at Aq. West? It looks really good now.


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## 2wheelsx2

target said:


> Man, shoulda let me know you were starting. I still have that super big chunk of HC floating in my 15g tank at work. Let me know if you want it and we can work it out. Might be enough to fully cover the bottom of your tank. Looks good though.


Yes, I remember. But I don't get downtown much anymore, and that much cost me only $10 and I only used half. If I wanted to I can cover the whole tank with it, but I want to grow it out properly as a carpet and then weed out the top half for other plants. Thanks though.



crazy72 said:


> Very nice, Gary. Have you seen the one at Aq. West? It looks really good now.


I've only seen the pics and that's kind of what kicked my behind into gear to get this one going. This will have a full CO2 setup in it as I have got a new toy recently--dual stage Praxair medical CO2 regulator.


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## tang daddy

Well that didnt take long....I bet it will fill out in 2 weeks once filled.

I did the dry set up before and found it was kinda slow compared to when it was filled with co2, with such a small tank it will take no time to fill in once flodded.

how about some brazillian microsword for the back half to keep it low?

Also mini bolbitis,nana petite and a small staurogyne bush, let me know when you fill it if you are interested in a few plants!


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## 2wheelsx2

tang daddy said:


> Well that didnt take long....I bet it will fill out in 2 weeks once filled.
> 
> I did the dry set up before and found it was kinda slow compared to when it was filled with co2, with such a small tank it will take no time to fill in once flodded.
> 
> how about some brazillian microsword for the back half to keep it low?
> 
> Also mini bolbitis,nana petite and a small staurogyne bush, let me know when you fill it if you are interested in a few plants!


I'm trying to keep it low maintenance while I'm deciding on what desk to order for my office, so I'll wait it out a bit.

You mean Lilaeopsis brasiliensis? Does it grow like a weed like E. tenellus? That stuff drove me nuts, so I don't want any if it's like that. But a patch of it above the "cliff" would be cool.

Don't think I want Anubias in this tank as I've heard that any cutting of the rhizome is poisonous to shrimp? Is that true?

S. repens would certainly be welcome, so yes, we'll have to talk in about a month when I fill it and jack up the CO2. Thanks bud, for the insight and for the regulator.


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## jobber

Nice to see the project roll along. Those LEDs are nice!
Btw, that 20 gallon take has some serious plant growth. I still remember it was bare.


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## 2wheelsx2

jobber604 said:


> Nice to see the project roll along. Those LEDs are nice!
> Btw, that 20 gallon take has some serious plant growth. I still remember it was bare.


Yeah, I'm actually thinking I might get a second LED so the light spread is better.

Hahaha...yeah, the Subwassertang took off and is a jungle in there.


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## tang daddy

I keep BM in the back of my tank and it grows ok...to stop it from going crazy I spool it up into a clump and plant it in a bunch.

when I said nana petite I meant a Pico size, I have a few baby pieces the size of your pinky nail looks tiny and kinda cool. If you cut the rhizomes it could be poisonous I guess but I have some in my crs tank for over a year with no problems.


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## jobber

Funny. Earlier, when you sent word that you finished planting the cube, I thought you planted HC into the CUBE cube. Then it occurred....oh yeah, Gary's Mini-cube. How many gallons is the tank?
The 20 looks likes a Scandanavian woodlands 'scape. The Subwassertang looks like coniferous.


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## 2wheelsx2

tang daddy said:


> I keep BM in the back of my tank and it grows ok...to stop it from going crazy I spool it up into a clump and plant it in a bunch.
> 
> when I said nana petite I meant a Pico size, I have a few baby pieces the size of your pinky nail looks tiny and kinda cool. If you cut the rhizomes it could be poisonous I guess but I have some in my crs tank for over a year with no problems.


Hmmmm...maybe I'll have try the tiny nana petite, sounds nice, but I think I'll stick with the original plan of UG or S. repens in the back. Want to keep the tank simple.



jobber604 said:


> Funny. Earlier, when you sent word that you finished planting the cube, I thought you planted HC into the CUBE cube. Then it occurred....oh yeah, Gary's Mini-cube. How many gallons is the tank?
> The 20 looks likes a Scandanavian woodlands 'scape. The Subwassertang looks like coniferous.


Hahaha...I can't imagine the HC staying more than 3 secs with all that flow and cories and plecos in there. The cube garden is roughly 8 gallons.


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## zhasan

Awesome little tank Gary! Looking forward to see the progress!!


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## 2wheelsx2

Did some rescaping tonight. Thanks to tang daddy for the petrified wood and fragglerock for the fissidens.










Lots of mist as I remoistened after the planting.


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## 2wheelsx2

For those of your wondering, there is no visible growth of the HC, but the ones I had to pull were starting to root already, so it seems to be working well, the dry start method.


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## Luke78

Looking good Gary,nice start to another lengthy projectThose cubes are something else,i can see why they are favoured by so many.You planning on adding any other plants or thats it? Keep updating, and thanks for sharing.


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## 2wheelsx2

Luke78 said:


> Looking good Gary,nice start to another lengthy projectThose cubes are something else,i can see why they are favoured by so many.You planning on adding any other plants or thats it? Keep updating, and thanks for sharing.


Thanks Luke. I'm hoping it's not going to be a lengthy project. 

Funny that you posted just now...I'm about to move the tank to my home office desk and post some new pics.

I plan to add some higher light plants at the top of the cliff and at the base of it where they are closer to the light. I have some species in mind, but it depends on whether anyone is selling them when I'm ready for them.


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## 2wheelsx2

So I got impatient and filled the cube today. Hooked up the CO2 and canister and tried to drip fill it:


























Then, as you can see from the result, I got impatient and just poured into a small container inside. It was murky like crazy, but this is the result after 1 minute with the canister:









And this is one hour later:


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## Tarobot

i like the in and out spraybar tubes of the canister, very slick. DIY?


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## 2wheelsx2

Nope, all came with the canister. Slick little unit actually. Think I might have to stuff more floss in there to slow the flow down some more though.


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## Tarobot

o it's a HOB canister, looks pretty neat, whered you find that? and did you make the intake shrimp safe?


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## 2wheelsx2

Tarobot said:


> o it's a HOB canister, looks pretty neat, whered you find that?


Big Al's. But they don't seem to sell it anymore. I actually listed the link I think somewhere earlier in the journal. Very happy with it. Cheap, small and space efficient. The hanger came with it. My other choice was the Zoomed Turtle canister, but this one seemed to be nicer.


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## Tarobot

big al's online or island pets unlimited?


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## jobber

Nice rescape 
How's the flow on the TRapids? Prefilter needed?


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## jobber

Tarobot said:


> big al's online or island pets unlimited?


Tom Aquatics Tom Rapid Mini Canister Filter C-80 : Canister Filters

The Canadian site:
http://www.bigalspets.ca/Tom-Rapid-Mini-Canister-Filter/dp/B000YJ0M1E


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## 2wheelsx2

jobber604 said:


> Nice rescape
> How's the flow on the TRapids? Prefilter needed?


It's great, but I need to have a prefilter for it. I think I'm going to cut it out of a sponge for now and see how it goes.



jobber604 said:


> Tom Aquatics Tom Rapid Mini Canister Filter C-80 : Canister Filters


Thanks Ming. Yep, Tarobot, that's the one, except I got it on the Canadian site.


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## 2wheelsx2

Very impressed with the Tom Rapids canister...this is 3 hours after flooding:


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## jobber

Wow, that's actually pretty impressive and efficient!


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## 2wheelsx2

Small update. CO2 churning along, so excuse the mist. 13w CF daylight desklamp helping the HC grow. Doing small daily water changes to cycle the tank because of the ammonia leached by the ADA AS.


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## bunnyrabbit

I think the MTS is rooting nicely. LOL


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## 2wheelsx2

bunnyrabbit said:


> I think the MTS is rooting nicely. LOL


hahah...yeah, I squeezed one in as I explained to my wife it's my new home office decor.


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## 2wheelsx2

Weekly date, and a bit of a scape change/addition, thanks to tang daddy.










It wasn't obvious to me, but the HC appears to be filling in, when I go through the photos.


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## Luke78

Looking good Gary, yeah there is some difference in the HC growth just a matter of time before the lawn effect takes place.So what are the stocking choices you got lined up?


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## 2wheelsx2

It's going to be shrimp only as I don't want to do as much work as I have in the past in my CO2 injected tanks. I want to keep the lighting low and the bioload low also. It sits on my office desk at home. If I ever clean up my desk I'll do a full tank shot with the layout, but that area is a mess as I'm still evolving it into my workspace.


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## stonedaquarium

just a humble suggestion you might want to consider planting your HC a bit deeper... once it pearls and does not have a well developed rooting system it will float up... what shrimps you plan on keeping?


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## 2wheelsx2

Thanks. I have actually planted some deeper already. I didn't have a lot of success in the past with HC, so I'm a bit of a n00b at it. Most of it is pretty deep. I'm going to do a water change today and I'll push the rest down a bit deeper. I keep the water level to within .5 cm of the top so I can't stick anything in without flooding it.


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## 2wheelsx2

Got a new toy, and the HC is really starting to fill in. Hopefully the new toy will work some magic on the S. repens which wasn't getting enough light.

Sorry for the ugly algae, but I'm going through a diatom phase right now, which I got 3 otos to help with.


















Thanks again to the wonderful staff at J&L, but especially to Jeff for opening that crazy packaging to show me how well the light works!


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## tony1928

Nice new toy!!! How do you possibly get any work done with that sitting on your desk?


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## 2wheelsx2

Well, since I got it at 11 and put pics up at 2....probably NO work done. 

These AquaRay are really well made. Solid piece of work, not like any of the other lights I have, including the Marineland LED's. If I had known they were so nice, I would not have even considered T5's in my big cube.....so you know what's coming up soon.


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## tang daddy

^either new shrimp or LEDs for you discus tank??:bigsmile:

Well the plants are coming along nicely and hc will fill in abit quicker with the new toy.....

Make sure to do weekly updates of growth on the plants!


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## 2wheelsx2

The shrimps are a given, but I'm going to reduce my wattage by about 80% by going to LED in the discus tank I think.


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## arash53

jobber604 said:


> Tom Aquatics Tom Rapid Mini Canister Filter C-80 : Canister Filters
> 
> The Canadian site:
> Tom Aquatics Tom Rapid Mini Canister Filter C-80 : Canister Filters


WOW canadian site is double the price !!!


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## 2wheelsx2

arash53 said:


> WOW canadian site is double the price !!!


Add the 15% discount, no shipping and no taxes and no duty and then calculate again and I bet you it's the same price.


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## arash53

No I just add it to the cart and showed :

$48.99 on .ca
$23.99 on .com

Shipping and handling and tax not included


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## 2wheelsx2

arash53 said:


> No I just add_ed_ it to the cart and _it_ showed :
> 
> $48.99 on .ca
> $23.99 on .com
> 
> Shipping and handling and tax not included


48.99 - .15x48.99 = 41.68. So now the difference is $16.

How much is the US site charging for shipping? And how are you calculating duty and taxes when you are taking it across the border? Add your gas and time also. Plus any receiver in the US will charge you a fee (like TSB shipping). Add all that in.

Edit: You caught me in between editing your post. If you don't count shipping and duty and stuff, sure there's a difference. Gas is also cheaper in Alberta. 

Screenshot of my cart below.


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## jobber

2wheelsx2 said:


> Got a new toy, and the HC is really starting to fill in. Hopefully the new toy will work some magic on the S. repens which wasn't getting enough light.
> 
> Sorry for the ugly algae, but I'm going through a diatom phase right now, which I got 3 otos to help with.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Thanks again to the wonderful staff at J&L, but especially to Jeff for opening that crazy packaging to show me how well the light works!


I see the plants are starting to grow and spread out. Those S.repens are growing downward roots, nice!
The 'rays are looking great, aesthetically nice fit with the ada tank . Bright enough to be a desk lamp


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## 2wheelsx2

It is brighter than my 13 w desk lamp, but it's also 8" higher. Can't really use it as a desk lamp as it's hard to read with the shimmer, but it's very cool indeed. Very well made piece of electronics.


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## 2wheelsx2

Made a few changes today. As you can see, the tank is crystal clear after an hour, all thanks to a 75% wc, allowing me to stir things up and move them around without mucking up everything. HC is constantly pearling now, and as you can see, spreading out well, although some of it was relocated to make room for the Alternathera reineckii in the back left corner. The Aquaray has improved things very very dramatically. You can see the Blyxa japonica has doubled in size and even the Erios has grown significantly.


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## cpool

Gary,

What is that dark plant in the back with the bright red stocks? Is it the alt. rein? Must be. Interesting, it looks a little different than any I have seen before.


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## 2wheelsx2

cpool said:


> Gary,
> 
> What is that dark plant in the back with the bright red stocks? Is it the alt. rein? Must be. Interesting, it looks a little different than any I have seen before.


Yep, that's them.  But cell cultured, but I had to pry them apart, so you're see the bottoms of the leaves as they were all twisted in the container, since they were so densely grown. Those cell cultured plants from AquaFlora are really a great deal. I always end up with more than I want/need.


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## stonedaquarium

if you want your HC to fill in quick... you need more lighting.. .just a suggestion... my HC started to fill in nicely with 4 x 24 T5HO... thats for my 20 gal. you seem to be having all parameters right... ADA soil, CO2, Ei dosing im assuming. if you could up your light a bit more... your HC should grow in no time


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## 2wheelsx2

stonedaquarium said:


> if you want your HC to fill in quick... you need more lighting.. .just a suggestion... my HC started to fill in nicely with 4 x 24 T5HO... thats for my 20 gal. you seem to be having all parameters right... ADA soil, CO2, Ei dosing im assuming. if you could up your light a bit more... your HC should grow in no time


Thanks. Been there done that. I'm done with high light, high CO2 injection, lots of work type tanks. I was happy to dry start this thing for 3 weeks and it's already been 2 months since initial setup. What I'm trying to do is grow a nice tank with as little light as possible and not gas my fish and shrimps (which I've done in the past). You also have to remember this is my smallest tank. I have another 4 tanks, for a total gallonage of about 300 gallons, which means about 600 - 700 gallons of water changes, filter cleaning, etc a week. If I had only small tanks, I may consider going with more light, but honestly, my HC in the middle of the photoperiod already makes the tank look like 7UP, so I'm not sure I need it to grow any faster.


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## 2wheelsx2

Thanks to Tony1928 for helping me finish off one missing element for this tank:


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## 2wheelsx2

Added another piece of wood to cover the sponge intake, so another update.


















As you can see the Blyxa has about doubled in size so I had to remove one. The S. repens has also doubled in height and I should be ready to do my first trip and replant to make it denser next week. The HC has really filled in except the one patch where I buried some new stuff that would have been under the wood.

Here's a pic of "pearling" for those who haven't seen it:


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## 2wheelsx2

5 days away from a business trip and it's like this. I think this really illustrates the difference of using CO2 with ADA AS. I've tried Excel with Eco Complete and there's no comparison.


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## jobber

Nice pics. The HC certainly has grown a lot. Carpeting very nice.


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## 2wheelsx2

jobber604 said:


> Nice pics. The HC certainly has grown a lot. Carpeting very nice.


Yeah, the growth is crazy. Looks like I'm going to have to remove that other Blyxa as it's doubled in size. So has the Erios.


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## Arcteryx

How did you end up controlling the flow on the Tom Rapids - you mentioned stuffing it with more floss, did that do the trick?


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## 2wheelsx2

I never had to. Once the HC took off, it held all the substrate together. And now that I got the sponge intake prefilter, the flow is actually perfect. At some point, I may have to upgrade to a 2211 if this thing gets any more overgrown. I should do a pic update as it's like a weed jungle now. May have to remove the last Blyxa as it's 5 inches tall now.


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## jobber

That blyxa looks pretty nice in the back there behind the piece of rock. 
Nice lumber you got from tony "the new discus keeping" 1928.


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## 2wheelsx2

That Blyxa is near out of control. Are you in the market for a giant Blyxa?


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## 2wheelsx2

Minor update. All Blyxa japonica was removed last week as it overgrew the tank. Went away for Spring Break for the week and the HC was out of control and had to be mowed. Did a 50%+ water change and wiped the glass down but without dosing/pruning, there is a bit of algae. The A. reineckii is growing in very well and looking really full.

Oh yeah, you can't see it, but there are 5 CPD's in there. There were 6, thanks to Pat, but one decided to "Escape from Alcatraz" and I found it dried on my desk when I got home last night.


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## charles

lower that water line 

Great looking tank.


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## 2wheelsx2

charles said:


> lower that water line
> 
> Great looking tank.


Thanks Charles. Lowering the water line would ruin the look I'm trying to achieve. It's fine when I'm there during the day, so I've been thinking about taking out a bit of water at night to lower the line, as suggested by some, or fashioning a mesh lid at night to keep the jumpers in. We'll see. I might just get some more non-jumping inhabitants.


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## gklaw

I have been thinking about using clear fish nets over my SW as precautionary. Need to hunt for some fine one so they don't destroy the open top look too much.


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## 2wheelsx2

I was thinking of the screening for the bug screens in the summer with a plastic frame. I'll put it on at night and remove when I'm working in my office. That way the light is never blocked when it's on.


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## gklaw

I am thinking of putting my on full time basis though. A piece of egg crate or a pc of acrylic could work as well for night time.


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## 2wheelsx2

gklaw said:


> I am thinking of putting my on full time basis though. A piece of egg crate or a pc of acrylic could work as well for night time.


I'm trying to avoid that as I don't like the look of it, since I'm about 2 feet away from it for 8 hours a day, working at my computer. Putting it on at night just to avoid jumpers will be good enough for me. Out of site out of mind. I'd leave it on the side of my desk. Eggcrate wouldn't work for me as my fish are tiny and acrylic wouldn't work as I want the gas exchange at night.


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## 2wheelsx2

Just did a massive water change and cleaned the glass....managed to break another diffuser at the stem with my hamfists. Lucky they are cheap on ebay. Moved the location to see if it changes the CO2 distribution any. As you can see, the Erios has really taken off, and so have the HC. The A. reineckii has gone wild, but the S. repens is growing only slowly, which is great. So far, this tank is still very low maintenace. Maybe 15 minutes a week.


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## 2wheelsx2

Did a minor oops on the left front as I added water too fast and some of the soil under the wood covered the HC. I just brushed some back and will let the HC grow through the soil there I think.

Here's that vid I promised you, Morainy:


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## target

Looks good. I blew alot of my HC out of the soil when I poured in the water setting up my 15g. It's a pain


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## 2wheelsx2

target said:


> Looks good. I blew alot of my HC out of the soil when I poured in the water setting up my 15g. It's a pain


Thanks. Actually with the ADA I can barely pull it out of there. The problem is that under the wood are bare spots and those are the areas that got washed over the HC.


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## charles

I heard using crazyglue or silicone work


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## 2wheelsx2

charles said:


> I heard using crazyglue or silicone work


Plastic plants and glass fish work better and are cheaper! Hey why didn't I think of that? 

To be honest, I should start cutting up mats of the HC and selling some. My Downoi is also starting to take off. I might have to get a bigger tank to do some Downoi and UG gardening!


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## 2wheelsx2

Found another dried up CPD this morning, so I guess I'm down to 3. I think CPD's aren't for this tank. Sticking to catfish and shrimp....


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## trout

Very nice tank! the pink undersides on the reineckii really pop! thats too bad about your CPD's, i feel your pain, currently using some plexi (has some gaps for air exchange) after recently having an oto and a rummynose go skydiving


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## 2wheelsx2

Thanks. I'm going to make a screen of some sort for at night when I'm asleep and when I'm away for work, to cover the tank. I'd like it open top when I'm working in the office.


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## 2wheelsx2

Well since I only have 1 CPD left, I went ahead and added 5 more C. habrosus and a few more invertebrates:


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## 2wheelsx2

Long time no update, so I thought I would throw a video up. The Erios is growing out of control and the Downoi is starting to take off. So much that I'm considering replacing part of the HC carpet with the S. repens in front, removing the A. reineckii and growing only Downoi in the back.


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## 2wheelsx2

Oh and you'll notice there are no shrimp in there. I don't know what happened to my poor tigers. I think I'll have to find some replacements.


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## jobber

Wow, the plants have grown! Has it been that long, it's only been like a month or so since you've started up this tank.


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## m_class2g

very nice tank.


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## 2wheelsx2

Thanks guys. Yes, it seems like yesterday, until I remember the number of water changes and algae weeding I had to do during the startup. It's mostly settled down now, so hopefully I have it licked before I have to go on the road again.


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## tang daddy

I like how the tank has evolved, you definitely have the green thumb!!

Sorry for the losses with the cpd and shrimps are the best escape artists, if they are escaping at night you can use a piece of corrugated sign board, I use it to cover sumps and ATO tanks so less evap. It's light easy to remove and cut to fit around hoses, airlines and cords, I see you have an airline which I am guessing is probally for co2 diffusion you could run another line with a timer at night for aeration.

Hope that helps and keep up the good work!


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## 2wheelsx2

tang daddy said:


> I like how the tank has evolved, you definitely have the green thumb!!
> 
> Sorry for the losses with the cpd and shrimps are the best escape artists, if they are escaping at night you can use a piece of corrugated sign board, I use it to cover sumps and ATO tanks so less evap. It's light easy to remove and cut to fit around hoses, airlines and cords, I see you have an airline which I am guessing is probally for co2 diffusion you could run another line with a timer at night for aeration.
> 
> Hope that helps and keep up the good work!


Actually I changed the spray bar to get more surface agitation and dialed the CO2 rate up, and lowered the water line by 3 or 4 mm and haven't had a single loss since that time. I hate air pumps as the noise, even at night, drives me nuts. And with the open top, the splashing would get water all over my work documents.  Thanks for the suggestions though, but thankfully, I don't need to do anything for now.

I haven't got any pics as they all went under the plants after I introduced them, but thanks to Mike at Fantasy Aquatics (yes, they do have the biggest retail store front selection of shrimps in town), I got 10 CBS that went into the tank.

I'm going to be removing that A. reineckii to make it a Downoi farm in that left back corner so I should be seeing lots more shrimp soon.


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## Luke78

Very impressive nano setup, thanks for stirring up another brain storm session as to what projects i wanna take on! Doubt i am going the ADA route, just cant afford what you guys have! My pockets are traveling light these days


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## Smallermouse

that is one very nice setup u got there. I had a carpet before but all my BN plecos ripped it all out....


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## 2wheelsx2

Smallermouse said:


> that is one very nice setup u got there. I had a carpet before but all my BN plecos ripped it all out....


Thanks and yep, the only suckermouthed catfish I have in this tank are otos (technically a pleco also). Bigger plecos and carpet plants = no carpet plants and a big mess.


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## 2wheelsx2

Added a few shelled friends, thanks to jiang604!


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## 2wheelsx2

Finally got around to hooking up the Bazooka diffuser from Pat. Simply awesome. Using 1/3 the amount of CO2 I was when using the ceramic diffuser. This 10 lb tank should last me 2 years.


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## Chappy

2wheelsx2 said:


> Long time no update, so I thought I would throw a video up. The Erios is growing out of control and the Downoi is starting to take off. So much that I'm considering replacing part of the HC carpet with the S. repens in front, removing the A. reineckii and growing only Downoi in the back.


WOW - just like an episode of The Ocean World of Jacques Cousteau with all those special zoom in/out effects  !!!! You know I'm just razzin' ya - the tank looks really good.


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## 2wheelsx2

Chappy said:


> WOW - just like an episode of The Ocean World of Jacques Cousteau with all those special zoom in/out effects  !!!! You know I'm just razzin' ya - the tank looks really good.


Thanks Shelley. Didn't you know that I'm like the evil stepbrother of good old Jacques?


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## Fish rookie

Your tank is so beautiful. The carpet looks unrel--wish i could do that to my tank.
I am thinking of putting a pleco in my tank, is that going to wrack the plants? It is a very small bristlenose pleco.


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## 2wheelsx2

Fish rookie said:


> Your tank is so beautiful. The carpet looks unrel--wish i could do that to my tank.
> I am thinking of putting a pleco in my tank, is that going to wrack the plants? It is a very small bristlenose pleco.


You Can! But you need CO2 and no bnp. A bnp would uproot any carpet plants.


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## Fish rookie

Thanks for the heads up. I will keep the BNP with my gold fish then.
I have just started a 33 gallon with some plants. Here is the tank: http://www.bcaquaria.com/forum/tank-journals-16/my-first-33-gallon-planted-tank-29516/
To clean up the algae I am thinking of perhaps getting some amano shrimps. I already have some ghost and cherry in a 10 gallon, and in my little breeding tank (2.5 gallon) I can see lots of small frys. Should I just wait for them to grow up?
The amano I saw in the store were really into eating an anubias but I thought they are supposed to be great with plants. confused...
How about a ****** loach, will that wreck havoc on the carpet? 
What would you recommend as clean up crews?


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## 2wheelsx2

I answered your questions in the journal you linked me to. It's a good start. It'll be nice looking tank when it fills in.


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## 2wheelsx2

While I was uploading the pleco photos, I thought I would shoot sub pics of the Cube Garden.

Pygmy cory hanging out in his hidey hole:









Bazooka diffuser doing its job.









And the hard working Otocinclus (missed out all those Zebra otos and now I really regret it).


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## trout

nice pics! who had zebra otos? i've been looking for those as well as the orange zebras for awhile.


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## 2wheelsx2

Thanks. Several places had them. Canadian Aquatics, April and Fantasy all had them at one point or another. But pricey and I was too cheap at the time.


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## Bien Lim

looking really good


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## 2wheelsx2

Thanks Bien. Compliments from a master is always welcome.


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## 2wheelsx2

Since the thread got bumped, I thought it was time for a picture update, as I realized I didn't have a full tank shot since the change (removal of the A. reineckii). I've replanted Downoi in the corner, but they're very slow growers and still are about 2 inches tall only.

You can see the champagne look because I change the shooting angle to show the surface agitation and also the new bazooka diffuser is super efficient.


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## trout

2wheelsx2 said:


> Thanks. Several places had them. Canadian Aquatics, April and Fantasy all had them at one point or another. But pricey and I was too cheap at the time.


ah cool.....thanks

the new fts looks great. those diffusers are awesome, my tank also looks like champagne. pressurized is awesome.


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## 2wheelsx2

Thanks. I gotta change the white balance on my camera. I just fixed it and re-attached in Picasa. The LED light spillage messes up the settings in my Nikon at certain shoot angles.

I have to mow that Fissidens back so I can see my petrified rock again too, as I said in your tank journal. I also need to figure out how to split this Erios as it's getting too big. Anyone know?


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## trout

How's this little gem doing?

Did you ever split the Erio? Ive never had one but doesn't it produce a separate side shoot kinda like blyxa? Then split that off?


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## 2wheelsx2

Been getting a bit of bba as work has been pressing and now I'm on a trip to Alberta. I'm going to do a major trim and cleanup as soon as I get back and post some pics.


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## 2wheelsx2

Came home to a mess of overgrown moss and HC. Some BBA and other fuzzy looking white algae. Did a big wc and hacked everything back mercilessly. Need to clean the pipes on and the filter to get the flow up again and hack back the S. repens so it doens't cover the diffuser. What a mess....


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## 2wheelsx2

Tank has been cleaned up but is quite boring now. There are a few Red Rili shrimp in there but I really need some red plants. The Erios has recovered from the neglect and through pruning, is growing a whole new core of fresh leaves.


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## Reckon

Needle leaf java fern adds a nice dimension to a tank.
How about some sunset hygro for color? You can trim every once in a while to keep nice and low?


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## 2wheelsx2

Reckon said:


> Needle leaf java fern adds a nice dimension to a tank.
> How about some sunset hygro for color? You can trim every once in a while to keep nice and low?


Needle java fern and hygro are both too big for this tank. In the back I only have 8 - 9" to the water surface, and the tank is 30x30cm wide. I had some A. reineckii in the beginning which you can see in the beginning of the journal that took over the whole tank in about a month. I need to find something with smaller leaves, maybe A. gracilis, but am still not sure. I got Downoi in the corner right now.


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## Reckon

If you are referring to Ammania Gracilis, that plant grows HUGE. I had a couple stems of that plant and it grew at least as big as Nesaea Crassicraulis. At least 4" in diameter and bigger if it gets taller. Yah, it's hard to find a plant that stays small and grows relatively slowly.


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## 2wheelsx2

Reckon said:


> If you are referring to Ammania Gracilis, that plant grows HUGE. I had a couple stems of that plant and it grew at least as big as Nesaea Crassicraulis. At least 4" in diameter and bigger if it gets taller. Yah, it's hard to find a plant that stays small and grows relatively slowly.


Yes I am. That's why I don't have any.  When using high light and lots of CO2, I have found all plants to pretty much grow huge. If you see my Anubias nana 'petite", the leaves are now 2" long. The seller sold it to me with the leaves 1/4" long....so yeah, it's pretty touch to keep them small unless you grow stuff like HC, which I have also found to grow like crazy (I trim off 1/4" probably every 2 - 3 weeks).


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## Reckon

Hm. Mabbe small wood structure(s) and moss is your only available option.


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## 2wheelsx2

Yes, I'm not sure how long I will continue this tank this way for that reason. Might go to a 60P to allow me to do more and sell this one.


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## trout

2wheelsx2 said:


> Yes, I'm not sure how long I will continue this tank this way for that reason. Might go to a 60P to allow me to do more and sell this one.


ya you might!

any reason there's no background on this little gem?


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## 2wheelsx2

trout said:


> ya you might!
> 
> any reason there's no background on this little gem?


Um...got lazy?  I wanted to do one of those frosted backgrounds and just kind of forgot about it. Thing is, from where I sit, I can't see the top back half of the tank, so I don't even see anything behind the tank since the slope I built up is so high, so I kind of forget about it.


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## 2wheelsx2

Long time no update. 

You can see I've got Downoi up gront which is finally recovering after being choked out by moss and HC. All the HC is gone, plus I've grown all kinds of S. repens all over the back and in the front. Moss has a bit of BBA in it. I kind of have revitalized interest in this tank now that the HC is gone. It was a pruning nightmare as it was always a mess after a pruning. S. repens is sooo much easier. I'm going to rip out more moss and replace the S. repens with something else in the corners and have more Downoi or maybe UG up front in the bare spot I've reserved, if I can get any.


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