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30cm cube tank

Sharing a picture from last night. It looks a little dirty as I didn't have time to do much maintenance on it last weekend. It will get a big water change and wipe down once I have the time.

There is a lot of algae on the glass but minimal on the plants. I do find that the older leaves on the Ammannia pedicellata are quite prone to algae, but the new growth is clean. Also have a bit of BBA appearing on the Cryptocoryne, especially where their roots poke out above the substrate. I think it probably means that the plants are healthy for the most part but there is an imbalance somewhere. I used the have a big bunch of Limnophila aromatica which I removed a while back and those plants grew extremely quickly. There is also a lot of gunk in the filter hoses. I think the lack of a big nutrient sponge and lack of filter maintenance is causing the algae to constantly grow on the walls.

The Rotala tulunadensis did show signs of stunting as some of the new growth appeared white and unhealthy. But the newer growth is now showing more colouration, so I think they will recover. They are growing from the stunted white parts though so some of them are looking a little awkward now. Most of them look fine though.

It still looks good, I think, but definitely not as nice before when the soil was rich and fresh. Would like to rescape but I haven't got the heart to tear everything up. I hope I'll get round to it before the end of January though. By then, most of the plants should reach the surface and I'll have a good number of healthy stems to cut down and I can try to sell them or give them away if they aren't good enough to sell. Thereafter I'll catch the shrimp and fish, relocate them to a different aquarium, and decommission this tank. Anyway, here's a picture of the tank that I took yesterday:

20250120_223452 by Lenny Lim, on Flickr
 
Also have a bit of BBA appearing on the Cryptocoryne, especially where their roots poke out above the substrate. I think it probably means that the plants are healthy for the most part but there is an imbalance somewhere.
It's possibly just root exudates from the cryptocoryne which are providing plant growth hormones to the BBA in these localities.
There is also a lot of gunk in the filter hoses. I think the lack of a big nutrient sponge and lack of filter maintenance is causing the algae to constantly grow on the walls.
Same as above, I would imagine there are roots no far from these enriched zones. Personally I would leave the filter well alone and leave the gunk too because it is biofilm helping the tank cycle. Perhaps just use a jug to measure your flow rate and compare that again in the future so that you know if the flow drops off. If it aint broke don't fix it because your tank is doing great. Well done.
 
It's possibly just root exudates from the cryptocoryne which are providing plant growth hormones to the BBA in these localities.

Same as above, I would imagine there are roots no far from these enriched zones. Personally I would leave the filter well alone and leave the gunk too because it is biofilm helping the tank cycle. Perhaps just use a jug to measure your flow rate and compare that again in the future so that you know if the flow drops off. If it aint broke don't fix it because your tank is doing great. Well done.
Thank you.

I am thinking of tearing this down and rescaping it soon actually, into something that requires less maintenance, so I'll be cleaning the filter hoses at that time. I'll leave it alone in the meantime as the flow still seems adequate.
 
Hiya

That is the Chihiros WRGB II Slim.

Are you from China? I've heard that there is a local brand there called MoDian (魔点) which is the same thing as Chihiros.
Yes, I am from China. In China, 魔点 is more popular than Chihiros. There is also a brand called Netlea, which is also very good.
 
Yes, I am from China. In China, 魔点 is more popular than Chihiros. There is also a brand called Netlea, which is also very good.
Oh yeah, I vaguely recall seeing videos and pictures of one of their tanks before full of Rotala blood red. I've never used their products but they are readily available in Singapore.

I'm using a light from another Chinese brand on my other tank called Week Aqua, have you heard of it?
 
Oh yeah, I vaguely recall seeing videos and pictures of one of their tanks before full of Rotala blood red. I've never used their products but they are readily available in Singapore.

I'm using a light from another Chinese brand on my other tank called Week Aqua, have you heard of it?
Yes, the Rotala blood red tank is very famous

I know the Week, but I haven't used it.
 
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