Project II - 5 Gallon Low Tech Cube Tank

[Courtneybst]

The scape is looking great! Yeah shrimps will generally hide with any sign of predation, especially in low numbers. If you had a few more it may encourage them to come out. Consequently, hiding shrimp are not really grazing on algae.

 

[christinecrites]

The scape is looking great! Yeah shrimps will generally hide with any sign of predation, especially in low numbers. If you had a few more it may encourage them to come out. Consequently, hiding shrimp are not really grazing on algae.

Thanks for the response. I sort of came to the realization that they weren’t going to be an effective clean up crew if they were too busy hiding lol. I started with a small amount because I wasn’t sure how predatory my betta was going to be and I wanted to avoid a huge massacre... I may get my 3 gallon sorted out to house the betta temporarily and bring in some more shrimp in that case... I will certainly give it a few days before I do anything and see if the situation resolved. As I right this response I just saw one of the Amano’s come out into the ‘front garden’ 😏

 

[christinecrites]

UPDATE: Tonight was the night I admitted defeat on the UG. I suspected it was slowly dying and maybe the reason for the brown algae I’ve been fighting for over a week!. I decided to remove it and see if that helps. I’m thankful that I had some Monte Carlo and Cuba so it’s not intirely bare but I need to add some more dimension and maybe a little height. Any suggestions or recommendations please!

 

[dw1305]

Hi all,

I suspected it was slowly dying

It looks OK in your photo. Utricularia spp. are really strange plants, technically <"they don't have any leaves or roots">, the things that look like those structures are all modified stems. If you still have them? You could try growing them in very shallow (rain) water with a layer of peat below and my guess is that they will perk up and start growing.

cheers Darrel

 

[ScaperJoe]

I think the tank looks awesome and doesn't need much addition if anything at all, but if you did want a bit of height - have you considered some Rotala Rotundifolia in the back right corner? As a stem plant, it could have an added bonus of helping with any algae issues too 👍

 

[christinecrites]

Thanks @dw1305 . My camer tends to really enchance greens for some reason, but the plants went from a nice thick green to a pale green to almost white with a thinned out blade and covered in a brown mulm like substance. That or I have just started at it way to long....

 

[christinecrites]

Thanks @ScaperJoe! i have Rotala H’ra, growing there! It was planted after everything because it wasn’t available at the time so it hasn’t made it way up yet.

 

[dw1305]

Hi all,

but the plants went from a nice thick green to a pale green to almost white with a thinned out blade

That sounds like an iron issue. Most aquatic/semi-aquatic Utricularia spp. come from soft water, where iron availability would be less of an issue.

cheers Darrel

 

[christinecrites]

I am changing ferts to try an all in one and see if that helps. I was using seachem flourish advance when I should have been using just the flourish which may be why I was lacking in iron. I could get my hands on flourish due to availability and did get some iron but I think I’m missing other vital elements now...

 

[ScaperJoe]

I am changing ferts to try an all in one and see if that helps. I was using seachem flourish advance when I should have been using just the flourish which may be why I was lacking in iron. I could get my hands on flourish due to availability and did get some iron but I think I’m missing other vital elements now....

Hey Christine. Sounds like a good choice and I’ve done the same recently, as an owner and user of seachem flourish, flourish trace and flourish advance, I’d say flourish advance has the most noticeable difference (and would recommend) but you need to be adding nitrogen, potassium and phosphorus - which I’ve been doing with other seachem products, but it’s a faff and I’ve since ordered APT Complete (2hr aquarist).

Someone more knowledgeable may step in and say I’m wrong but I now understand that the comprehensive ‘Flourish’ product is woefully under-stacked with the core nutrients. The nitrogen % is basically nothing.

ill try to document the change of ferts when the new one arrives

 

[dw1305]

Hi all,

Someone more knowledgeable may step in and say I’m wrong but I now understand that the comprehensive ‘Flourish’ product is woefully under-stacked with the core nutrients. The nitrogen % is basically nothing.

@Zeus. is your man, but if you like <"value for money"> all the liquid fertilisers make for <"pretty gory reading">.

cheers Darrel

 

[Zeus.]

Cost/Compare per ppm shows true value for money

Some of the prices are shocking, There are two new products I have come across in the table above from General Hydroponics GHA FloraGro and GHA FloraMicro which was planning doing a report on as it would make them the cheapest commercail ferts to use in the UK and even cheaper than NilocG fert range on the Macro side.

 

[christinecrites]

UPDATE: In the short couple of days since the removal of the UG and changing of the ferts + a trimming to the carpet, The tank is looking much better than it has in the past month. I’m still shocked at how much Monte Carlo was hiding beneath the UG. My Rotala has also shot up a bit and is colouring much better! I’m still sad to see the UG go but truthfully it hadn’t looked good in a long while. I’m very excited for the Rotala H’ra to crest over the Front Rock!

 

[christinecrites]

UPDATE: the tank seems to be doing really well with the removal of the UG and change in ferts. I wonder if due to the size of the tank and how heavily planted it is it just likes more water changes. I do water changes every evening 20% and 40-50% rotation. I don’t mind because the tank is so small and I use the discarded water for my lawn and plants. But if I go more than a day without it, the tank seems to miss the refresh of ferts and oxygen exchange it gets.

 

[LondonDragon]

Tank is looking great, just not sure its big enough for the Betta, I gave away my Betta recently because my 30cm cube seemed a little small for it now it reached full size, thinking instead of a pair of dwarf puffers or just keep it as shrimp only!

 

[christinecrites]

It’s the smallest size recommend if you want to keep a Betta (from all that I read). I have two larger tanks on order(now that I have a little confidence) and will eventually move him into one. I also love the Pea Puffer, but from what I read, 5 gallon is the smallest and that would be for 1 pea puffer.

My betta started this whole aquascaping frenzy when someone convinced me to get one and put it in a vase with a peace lily (👎). I usually do my research first, but let’s just say I was a bit impulsive on this purchase. I had him home for not more than a few days and soon I realized what I had signed up for. I put him in a 3Gallon vase doing constant water changes, while I informed myself on a better setup. I then purchased the 5gallon tank because it was the smallest recommended and I was nervous about maintaining anything larger. He lived in it with plastic plants and decorative sand and a little cave until I felt prepared to give him something better. I figured he was better off with me in the end than the big box pet store I brought him home from...

 

[christinecrites]

BEWARE: Graffic content for Betta Lovers...
I thought I’d be 💯 honest and share the terrible Mistakes I made when I initially didn’t plan ahead on purchasing on fish (now Family member).
1. July 8th 2020 - Terribly tiny vase (he lived 2 days in the fist pic)
2. July 11th 2020 - Bigger, but too small vase with no heat(it was the summer thankfully) or filtration... and I thought I could use a piece of coral to decorate 😱... I very soon after realized what it did to the PH. (He lived less than a day with the coral in the Vase)
3. July 12th 2020 - I removed some sand and provided him with a hidey hole. I really started to read up on bettas and tanks, I was doing very frequent water changes while adding a dechlorinator at this point.
4. Oct 24th 2020 - I’d finally worked up the courage to purchase a tank with a heater and filtration. I had added a tiny heater to his Vase back in September but knew things needed to change.
5. Feb 22nd 2021 - I began experimenting with real plants in a 3Gallon (Project I).
March 2021 - Phish (my betta) moved back into his established (tested water) planted tank.
I am lucky that my Betta has survived all my poor decisions...

 

[Wookii]

BEWARE: Graffic content for Betta Lovers...
I thought I’d be 💯 honest and share the terrible Mistakes I made when I initially didn’t plan ahead on purchasing on fish (now Family member).
1. July 8th 2020 - Terribly tiny vase (he lived 2 days in the fist pic)
2. July 11th 2020 - Bigger, but too small vase with no heat(it was the summer thankfully) or filtration... and I thought I could use a piece of coral to decorate 😱... I very soon after realized what it did to the PH. (He lived less than a day with the coral in the Vase)
3. July 12th 2020 - I removed some sand and provided him with a hidey hole. I really started to read up on bettas and tanks, I was doing very frequent water changes while adding a dechlorinator at this point.
4. Oct 24th 2020 - I’d finally worked up the courage to purchase a tank with a heater and filtration. I had added a tiny heater to his Vase back in September but knew things needed to change.
5. Feb 22nd 2021 - I began experimenting with real plants in a 3Gallon (Project I).
March 2021 - Phish (my betta) moved back into his established (tested water) planted tank.
I am lucky that my Betta has survived all my poor decisions...

Credit to you for being so honest about your previous errors, and I'm glad you have 'seen the light' on providing an appropriate environment for your fish. You are clearly able to successfully grow plants and manage a planted tank, so I don't think you will have any issues with your new larger tanks, and your betta will no doubt benefit greatly from the increased swimming space and likely exhibit even more of his natural behaviour.

 

[sparkyweasel]

Phish is lucky he was adopted by some-one who put in the effort to give him a better home as soon as you realised you had been badly informed.

Don't worry about getting a bigger tank, they are actually easier to care for in many ways. They tend to be more stable and anything that goes wrong generally happens more slowly, so you can spot the problem and fix it before it becomes a disaster.

You get a whole new set of challenges when you mad and go bigger than about a hundred gallons, but now you've been lured in and become one of us, that could happen sooner than you think.

 

[christinecrites]

Thanks for the kind words! I have ordered up a UNS 60S (shallow 10gal) an 60U (standard 20gal) with no specific plans in mind and could easily move him over once I get one established. I really loved the CineScapers remodel of his betta tank and thought it might be cool to do something similar. But the order is way out (Dec) so I have given myself ample time to plan it out and of course read up on it a bit more 🙂