# My 90x90x40 cube



## RynoParsons (22 Jan 2013)

okay so this is my tank been running for 2 months.
mix of flourite red and dark
8x39w t5's (3x6500k and 5x8000k)
plants= HC, spikey moss , fissidensfontanus, java fern, blyxa japonica, blyxa aubertii, staurogyne repens,  H. pinnatifida, amania gracilis and rotala colourate,
Fish= harlequin rosbaras x30, cherry barbs x6 and a few white clouds and saimes algae eaters,


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## Iain Sutherland (22 Jan 2013)

Hey Ryno, welcome to the forum, nice to see another similar shaped tank to mine and interesting to see your layout. Will look great mature.
Just be careful with your light as 8 x 39w T5 is masses! I run mine 2 x 24w 6 hours and 150w halide for a couple of hours in the middle. The issue i always had was getting co2 all around the tank, would like to see how youve overcome this if you could post some filter and co2 specs 
Keep the updates coming.


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## Danny (22 Jan 2013)

8x39w  that is marine quality lighting lol Nice size tank and like the wild/natural look you have made


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## RynoParsons (22 Jan 2013)

hey thanx, this tank is getting 4 more bags of flourite to slope the back more, the ugly rock is getting replaced with some nice dark rocks, and more wood on the sides more to the front, i made a DIY co2 inline reactor, running an eheim 2228 profesional1 and a 1200lph wave maker and 400lph internal filter with purigen. the internals is placed next to the outlet of the cannister so it makes alot of flow.


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## RynoParsons (22 Jan 2013)

how the tanked looked before this scape


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## Alastair (22 Jan 2013)

Very nice tank, really like this. Be good to see it in another months time see how it's progressed 


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## RynoParsons (23 Jan 2013)

thanx still not happy with the scape, the dragon rock doesnt really work well here and i need to buy 4 more bags of flourite ti raise the substrate on the back corners alot more. need lots of needle leaf ferns also. was thinking of getting ADA stone to replace the dragon rock, rip out that HC also


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## kirk (23 Jan 2013)

That's a great tank must have taken hours to scape. Makes me think of the fish. How they started out crammed into a tiny tank then on an unknown journey in an even smaller bag . Then to arrive and be released into a tank more like an ocean they must love it. One day il have a tank like that, when my wife and children have had enough of my fish/watter obsession and I'm living on my own lol.


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## RynoParsons (23 Jan 2013)

haha the tank only cost me about 60£ to build and the stand about 80£ but its the equipent thats expensive and substrate 7 bags of flourite already in there need 4more. ordered 4x kessil 150w amazon sun for the tank also. will be getting them in the 1st week of Fb hopefully


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## foxfish (23 Jan 2013)

Could you tell us why you want to use so much light?


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## RynoParsons (23 Jan 2013)

its to cover the whole tank 90x90cm is a big surface area to get high light spread to every point of the tank


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## foxfish (23 Jan 2013)

Wow = that is about 4.5wpg or over twice the normal recommended levels!


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## RynoParsons (23 Jan 2013)

yep its alot of light. but remember with a normal rectangulare tank its alot of light because the surface area is not that big. my tank is basicaly 2x 4ft tanks so its a quad unit above each 4ft tank.


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## RynoParsons (23 Jan 2013)

or 2x3ft tanks


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## Alastair (23 Jan 2013)

I too agree it may be a lot of light. There's a 90x90 cube over on another forum that only has the one kessil and the spread covers the whole tank. 


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## RynoParsons (23 Jan 2013)

i will check it out will use 2  kessils and see hows the light.


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## BigTom (23 Jan 2013)

I've got the same dimensions (except 30cm instead of 40cm height) and using a single 70w halide (and planning on using a single Kessil - if it ever arrives!). That's low tech though, but seems to do the trick.

PS; it might be the lighting but it looks like you're struggling a bit with cloudy water? I've had a bugger of a time getting mine clear, ended up retrofitting 1 micron oil filter socks to one of my filters. Water is now completely clear, but only if I have the sock fitted.

You can see the difference it made in 24 hours in this photo -





Cloudy water - a little trick | UK Aquatic Plant Society

PPS; kudos for going for a lawn in a tank with these dimensions!


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## RynoParsons (23 Jan 2013)

its the lights and my crappy photography skills with my old iphone haha. water is clear. had some tannins with the wood, have more wood soaking in a bucket. i had 2 dual t5 units at the begining, but the hc at front didnt grow. also the plants at the back wasnt doing to great also. running my lights for only 5 hours a day. 3hours with all the lights on. also running purigen in the filter withbactivated carbon it makes my water clear. just strugling acbit with thread algae the last 2 weeks. overdosed without knowing


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## BigTom (23 Jan 2013)

Fair enough then. I don't know anything about running a high tech tank so I'll shut up now


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## RynoParsons (23 Jan 2013)

some time i must invest in a good camera. thanx for the input. i make use of the info you guys give. the carpet is almost 90x40cm but the HC doesnt grow to great my SAE's keep pulling them out. have 2 stems of rotala macranda in there but not doing great. what do you peeps think of tropica ferts?i dose the one with just the traces and the macros i dose dry ferts using the EI calculator


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## RynoParsons (25 Jan 2013)

so since im moving end of march i decided to play around with some scapes, planning on how to make it the best it can be with my available hardscape. also have an algae invasion on my HC!
When i moved to pta and im settled i would actually get some spiderwood with thinner branches and saw them off the base and use them. the smaller branches will create the illusion that the tank is bigger?


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## RynoParsons (25 Jan 2013)

crappy photos i know. will try and get a good camera in march


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## RynoParsons (25 Jan 2013)

the water actually is clear. its co2 bubbles thats not in fokus with my crappy iphone camera


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## RynoParsons (25 Jan 2013)

Removed one piece of wood on the left that was covering the rock


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## RynoParsons (28 Jan 2013)

Some better pics! sorry for the awesome background


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## jack-rythm (28 Jan 2013)

I think it Looks very natural, well done. The gravel is very nice and natural especially. I know what u mean about taking photos of a tank! It is hard stuff!

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## RynoParsons (28 Jan 2013)

thanx. yep its not easy to capture the depth of the tank. in april im going to swop the wood for thinner more nicer branches of spiderwood. will blow torch them a bit to give more detail


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## RynoParsons (28 Jan 2013)

this is with all 8 lights on. i dont really see a differnece on the pics, but its actually much brighter, im keeping only 4 tubes on because of the algae


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## jack-rythm (28 Jan 2013)

I actually like the wood that's in there I like the thickness to. Maybe swap a few so you have a nice balance of thick and thin   keep up the great work

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## RynoParsons (28 Jan 2013)

thinx. i think the thinner branches will give the scape an illusion of being much bigger? this wood is a bit bulky for me?


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## jack-rythm (28 Jan 2013)

That's faire enough Mate, goods luck with it   look forward to more photos

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## RynoParsons (28 Jan 2013)

thanx. if the other wood doesnt look as good as these i will just swop them out again. will only update again when i replaced the carpet with UG or glosso and have grown in a bit


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## jack-rythm (28 Jan 2013)

What is you're current carpet plant I can't quite see? 

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## jack-rythm (28 Jan 2013)

HC?

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## RynoParsons (28 Jan 2013)

Yep HC had an algae infestation had to remove about 70% of it unfortunately


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## jack-rythm (28 Jan 2013)

Ohh no.. If it's not to bad I'll happily take it from u. Or is it that bad u wouldn't want to sell it on?

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## RynoParsons (28 Jan 2013)

i live in South Africa so wont last sending it to you and would cost alotof money haha. i planted them in me emmersed setup


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## RynoParsons (6 Feb 2013)

So installed 2x kessil 150w amazon sun LED lights looks great will post pics tonight. The light gives a more natural look in the tank. I absolutely love it


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## RynoParsons (6 Feb 2013)

I also removed most of the HC and planted glosso today. Lots of it. In my experience glosso grows very quickly. Dosing the green bottel tropica also. I dose half dosage twice a week instees of the full once a week dosage


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## RynoParsons (6 Feb 2013)

Sorry haha. Also repaced the dragon rock with natural greay river stone. Makes a big difference


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## RynoParsons (7 Feb 2013)




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## jack-rythm (7 Feb 2013)

I'm really really liking the dimensions of the tank. If you had a big room it would look amazing as an island tank! But for that I think u need more of a huge show room space lol. It's really coming along Mate, do you have any other plans for it? 

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## RynoParsons (7 Feb 2013)

Hey thanx. Yep i want to swop out the bulky wood for thinner smaller wood to create an ilusion that the tank is bigger. Also want to plant hydrocotyle tripartita in between the rocks on certain plases. Wating for the blyxa, glossso and staurogyne repens to take shape as they are in a bit of s bad way at the moment. Once thats happend ad everything is grown in i will see whats the next step


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## jack-rythm (7 Feb 2013)

If the tripartita is the smaller sized Hydrocotyle I have some u can have?

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## RynoParsons (7 Feb 2013)

haha it is the smallest one yes. can you ship to South Africa haha. i wll be getting in a few weeks time somebody on the south african forum is going to send to me. (apsa)


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## jack-rythm (7 Feb 2013)

haha! damn its you again!


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## Dewald Coetzer (7 Feb 2013)

The new lights are looking good.


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## RynoParsons (7 Feb 2013)

so here is the youtube link. i dont knoe how to get it to play on the thread itself. better to watch it on the highest quality


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## jack-rythm (7 Feb 2013)

RynoParsons said:


> so here is the youtube link. i dont knoe how to get it to play on the thread itself. better to watch it on the highest quality


it does play in the thread


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## RynoParsons (7 Feb 2013)

yep i just realised that haha


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## jack-rythm (7 Feb 2013)

love the shimmer mate, looks so good when you see it in video format. can you do one of the whole tank a little longer? like your fish too


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## RynoParsons (7 Feb 2013)

i will make one later. must get busy for the day now. thanx for the comments


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## Bazil (14 Feb 2013)

Really cool lights. Love the natural effect of the shadows and shimmer it creates. This tank sure looks better in person though.


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## BigTom (14 Feb 2013)

Could you possibly do me a favour and see if its possible to get full tank coverage with a single light using the goosneck? Trying to decide if its worth ordering a neck for when mine finally arrives, or if I'll need to hang it higher up for 90x90 coverage.

Would be very much appreciated!


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## RynoParsons (14 Feb 2013)

it covers the full tank with one light if you suspend it about 50cm above the water level. but then i would say it will be low light conditions


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## BigTom (14 Feb 2013)

RynoParsons said:


> it covers the full tank with one light if you suspend it about 50cm above the water level. but then i would say it will be low light conditions


 
Perfect, thanks (I'm running low tech so should be fine). Are the goosenecks long/bendy enough to get a light to 50cm above or will I need to keep my lighting frame?


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## RynoParsons (14 Feb 2013)

No the goose necks wont be long enough. Wil have to suspend it with cable from the ceiling


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## BigTom (14 Feb 2013)

OK, thanks. Time for one of my Heath Robinson impressions.


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## andyh (14 Feb 2013)

Great Journal! The tank dimensions are what caught my attention initially as they are quite unusual, but i have to say i love it!

How are you getting on with the lights? How do they compare to the T5's?

Keep up the good work!


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## RynoParsons (14 Feb 2013)

Well my blyxa japonica is recoverig very nicely with the new lights had a bad case of algae did a 6day blackout and doses seachem excel. So plants suffered a bit. And LEDs are only on for a week now. My rotala colourata is green not red. But everything grows nicely. Will update in a few weeks on them. Hopefully its strong enough to make my plants red. My staurogyne repens is also recovering quickly. The effect of the light is awesome love the natural feel it gives in the tank


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## vauxhallmark (15 Feb 2013)

It's not a cube. (Sorry, couldn't resist Harry Hill reference)!! (Sorry if you're not a UK telly addict). 

Looking good!!

Mark


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## RynoParsons (15 Feb 2013)

Haha its fine. Tv addict?


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## RynoParsons (20 Feb 2013)

Wel must say the LEDs are doing their job. All the plants are growing fine. I took out all the wood the moss got bad hair algae and i cant get rid of it in this tank. (Got the algae way before the new lightS) so the moss is in a deep tank now with lower light. As soon as i can het rid of the alge i can use it again. Addrd glosso to the tank ad its growing very quickly. Usig the green tropica ferts. Cant get the plants red using it? Even my rotala walichi wich didnt grow with the old lights grows very well now. I also started using mre tap water. Phasing out the RO water. Its just to much effort to go get 200L RO water a week. See my plants are doing better over all. Will updatw on Sunday or so.


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## Ady34 (21 Feb 2013)

Hi Ryno,
Great news about the improved plant health  I suspect it could be attributed to the decrease in lighting intensity from your 8x 39w T5's to the Kessil units and the subsequent reduction in demand for co2 making it a more efficient and plant friendly set up.
Cheerio,
Ady.


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## RynoParsons (21 Feb 2013)

Hmmm i dont know. Before the rescape i had great looking plants ad excelet growth with the 8x39w unit. But everythibg is pickingup again


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## RynoParsons (21 Feb 2013)

this is what was going on with the previous (not scape) haha\


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## RynoParsons (4 Mar 2013)

aaarrrrrhhhh! i got clado algae in the tank! dont want to go away


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## RynoParsons (16 Mar 2013)

so the clado is gone imo. hopefully it doesnt make a u-turn! had to remove the wood because of all the algae in the moss


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## RynoParsons (25 Mar 2013)




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## RynoParsons (6 Apr 2013)




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## martinmjr62 (6 Apr 2013)

Filling out nicely mate.Love the size of this tank 

Cheers 
Martin


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## RynoParsons (14 Apr 2013)

so i moved to another city. tank is up again completely new scape. will update when it recovered


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## Jaydensky (26 Sep 2021)

Hey 
where did you buy this aquarium ?


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