All hail the cube!

[sophlearnspatience]

Hey all,
As the name suggests I am Sophie, and this cube is my personal test of patience and my first one since my childhood/teens.
So welcome to amateur hour!

I have endless amount of patience for people, but when it comes to tasks and projects? You best bet I want results IMMEDIATELY or I am prone to a little self aimed disgruntlement. Certain interests will also dominate my brainspace and life until they feel "complete", so this is also a mini test of my occupational balance. It's been a week and I have said "leave it alone" multiple times an hour.

The cube is life the cube is love.



Things I admit do not come naturally to me - maths and chemistry.... dear lord the chemistry. Thankfully it is easier to process when it is attached to why/how ecosystems and beings are alive but I may ask some very "please spoon feed me" questions!

So... specs.
- 30x30x30cm 25litre glass cube! Got it off all pond solutions in a new years sale.

- A cheap 5w LED light with a single blue spec bulb in there amongst the white. I also have terrestrial plant R&B grow lights dimmed right down for plants around the cube (who are all currently moved) but the tank catches the lights without them insitu, im yet to see an issue this early on but watching out for excessive algae just in case.

- Cheap 25w heater (my room is an ice cave in winter so set at 26°c ive not seen it go above 20° yet, using both internal food grade thermometer and a stick on tank one) I will want to add cherry shrimp and ramshorn snails, they should survive those temps next winter right?

-co2, whose paying for it? You? I jest, not bothering with that on a tiny tank, i did buy liquid, but reviews and research tell me it may be best to scrap it and wing it o'naturale (except all the other not so natural stuff we chuck in) and before anyone suggests the yeast method - im super allergic to yeast, a life without proper bread is dismal.

-HOB filter, fluval AC20. Shocked how silent this filter is. I would say it throws the water down into the tank more than across the surface but a few folks have given me tips for that!



- substrate, you can guess who I copied here, nutribase, pond compost, some fancy black I was given. Root tabs tucked in there. All the rocks in the tank I collected on beaches and walks, all YEARS old, scrubbed, non-porous and made safe. There is a fossil in there somewhere.



My water is HARD. I'm in Norfolk, England. Limescale for days. PH sits right off the bat at 7.6 and has stayed at 7.6 and that seems comfy for future shrimp and snails, but I can imagine some of my plants will sulk? I treated tao water left out for a few days with aqua essential. It was clear beyond some upheaval of substrate and messing about with plants. Ive had a couple days of pure milky water but its mostly been crystal clear with a little build up now of tanins and some biofilm lurking.

.... I'll make another journal post shortly with more timelapse photos, but I have life to do (hideous, I know, the cube... it calls me...), I got a load of un-ID'd plants in there that maybe some lovely folks can help with, all except the anubias and floaters (who were lab babies) came from an established cycled tank with live in a betta, and I'll include my ammonia/nitrite after one week, but I have not added anything to the tank to aid the cycle AS OF YET.

 

[sophlearnspatience]

One week of the cube being filled and here are the ammonia, nitrite and nitrate levels.... sooooo, I am roughly reading 1.0ppm ammonia, 1-2ppm nitrites and lets call it about 20-30 for the nitrates. So things ARE happening in the tank slowly, without any added ammonia, no added bacteria but possibly something has ventured over withe the plants grown in the betta tanks. A few days ago I was testing low ammonia, low nitrites and barely traceable nitrates... so... it feels like good progress to me? Definitely enjoying seeing changes in the tank already, even with my insatiable need to puggle and mess with things.

Remember the water sits at a steady 7.6 PH. I dont feel the need to control it unless something goes arwy. If plants cant cope, id rather change the plants. Hard water. But what other tests will be useful in this size? Considering eventually (distant future) i will add shrimp and snails... should I test for heavy metals and how/whats best to use?

 

[sophlearnspatience]

The bottom cloudy picture was taken on thursday. By saturday it was clear with zero water changes or any assitance (i left it the heck alone) but a milky film at the surface developed, which is less like a wet tissue laying on top of the tank since surface agitation has been reintroduced (red root drama)



Had some lovely assistance from a few of you regarding my red root floaters WHICH ARE EVIL LITTLE CRETINS, as they constantly tumbled in the filter flow, but they have since been put in plant jail (a portal) just to contain them in hopes that they recover and I can eventually forgive them. Currently they are a jumbled mess, but so am I, so I wont give up on them today... I just hope they self right and lift their leaves out of the surface tension. (The RB light looks a lot closer than it was here)

 

[dw1305]

Hi all,

no added bacteria but possibly something has ventured over withe the plants grown in the betta tanks.

It will have done. Have a look at <"Correspondence with Dr Ryan Newton - School of Freshwater Sciences, University of Wisconsin—Milwaukee">.

Remember the water sits at a steady 7.6 PH. I dont feel the need to control it unless something goes arwy.

Compounds like <"pH Buffers"> aren't really very useful in aquariums, they just transfer your money to the vendor.

If plants cant cope, id rather change the plants. Hard water

Considering eventually (distant future) i will add shrimp and snails

Sensible. Hard water is fine for a lot of plants and fish - <"Cryptocoryne Parva Carpet"> and allows you to keep "fancy" snails etc.

But what other tests will be useful in this size?

Conductivity (TDS) meter? Most test kits aren't actually very useful <"My Aquarium Journey - Sharing Experiences and Seeking Advice">.

should I test for heavy metals

You don't need to (and you would need some pretty fancy analytical equipment if you did). Until the <"Brexit Bonus"> kicks in fully our tap water is treated to remove any potential heavy metals, and in hard water they would never be an issue.

cheers Darrel

 

[G H Nelson]

Will have a go at the identifications!

Alternanthera reineckii, Ludwigia repens, Limnophila sessiliflora, Micranthemum sp, Echinodorus sp, Hygrophila polysperma?​

hoggie

 

[bazz]

Currently they are a jumbled mess, but so am I, so I wont give up on them today... I just hope they self right and lift their leaves out of the surface tension.

Difficult to tell for sure from the clear water photograph above, but it looks like you may have a few to many plants in your corral, you can use your planting tweezers to ensure at least some of them are upright and floating. I have never had RRF's before but understand they really do not like to be submerged and if they start to deteriorate they could possibly start to add compounds to your water that you probably could without, especially at this early stage.
Cheers!

 

[richardcunliffe]

+1 Enjoying your writing style, thanks for the smiles

 

[sophlearnspatience]

Difficult to tell for sure from the clear water photograph above, but it looks like you may have a few to many plants in your corral, you can use your planting tweezers to ensure at least some of them are upright and floating. I have never had RRF's before but understand they really do not like to be submerged and if they start to deteriorate they could possibly start to add compounds to your water that you probably could without, especially at this early stage.
Cheers!

Thank you and woo! Great minds - I have actually put them in a bigger jail today! So good shout! But before I put them in the smaller one they were incredibly clumped and overly submerged for a day or so.... they just wont level out with or without a little prison time, the tumbling has really done a number on them... but im still going to give it a while in the new portal and see how they do, the more I try and right them the less confident I am so.. they're on thin ice (poor little guys) and im already contemplating starting fresh with others just because I am suspicious that they'll just rot from below as you said.

 

[sophlearnspatience]

View attachment 226572
Will have a go at the identifications!

Alternanthera reineckii, Ludwigia repens, Limnophila sessiliflora, Micranthemum sp, Echinodorus sp, Hygrophila polysperma?​

hoggie

Oh my goodness you absolute star!
Thank you so much

 

[sophlearnspatience]

Hi all,

It will have done. Have a look at <"Correspondence with Dr Ryan Newton - School of Freshwater Sciences, University of Wisconsin—Milwaukee">.

Compounds like <"pH Buffers"> aren't really very useful in aquariums, they just transfer your money to the vendor.


Sensible. Hard water is fine for a lot of plants and fish - <"Cryptocoryne Parva Carpet"> and allows you to keep "fancy" snails etc.

Conductivity (TDS) meter? Most test kits aren't actually very useful <"My Aquarium Journey - Sharing Experiences and Seeking Advice">.

You don't need to (and you would need some pretty fancy analytical equipment if you did). Until the <"Brexit Bonus"> kicks in fully our tap water is treated to remove any potential heavy metals, and in hard water they would never be an issue.

cheers Darrel

Thanks so much for the advice Darrel, I really appreciate these detailed responses and links. I have ordered a TDS meter and will sus out how to get all that working in the cubes favour once it arrives!

 

[sophlearnspatience]

+1 Enjoying your writing style, thanks for the smiles

You are so welcome.
Thanks for being lovely!

 

[sophlearnspatience]

OH DEAR NO, NOW I AM RESPONSIBLE FOR A TINY LIFE TOO SOON! Clearly hitchhiked in on a plant, slightly worried about him in this current chemical toilet of a tank, I don't think it is close to being cycled yet.... off to hit the forums, I know we can do snail/fish in cycles but I was avoiding anyone being put at risk when I have zero expertise. (The little wormy looking bits are roots from the floaters after i rejailed them and tried to untangle... do not fret, just need a scoop) just by the sheer audacity of his arrival I assume he is a ramshorn, he would usually be welcomed... I hope he survives to tell his gt gt gt gt gt gt grandchildren about the great cube settlement of 2025 and how he was there at the first cycling.

 

[Someoldguy]

I wouldn't agonize over the snail . If it's chugging along the tank surfaces , it's OK . If it's laying on the bottom in the same place for the last 2 weeks , it's dead. I don't think there's any way to tell if a snail is in any sort of distress . Just leave it be . Think of it as the advance guard of a cleaning crew that'll arrive later . You've made a great start on a great looking tank . Keep it up by not doing too much .

 

[Connswater]

hitchhiked in on a plant

Mother nature at her best...bladder snails are tough, should be fine, and a welcome addition.
Pity you can't use yeast and sugar for gentle CO2, cheap, cheerful, easy and green. With hard water CO2 injection is real miracle worker, a small tank like your cube would work well with a citric acid and bicarb system, about £50 for a steel tank system with no solenoid on Amazon, I personally from experience, don't think a timer control & solenoid is necessary if the bubble count is low.
But Darrel is the real expert here, and there are as he says plants which will thrive in hard water without injecting CO2 but growth will always be slow.
If you haven't seen it, this link is interesting and relevant to your setup, and George is using tap water, hard tap water in his tanks. I posted this link sometime ago on this site, I'm in danger of being an old fool who repeats himself.
Best of luck.

 

[sophlearnspatience]

I wouldn't agonize over the snail . If it's chugging along the tank surfaces , it's OK . If it's laying on the bottom in the same place for the last 2 weeks , it's dead. I don't think there's any way to tell if a snail is in any sort of distress . Just leave it be . Think of it as the advance guard of a cleaning crew that'll arrive later . You've made a great start on a great looking tank . Keep it up by not doing too much .

Ive already accepted him as my good time pal. 15minutes of unnecessary fretting, 15minutes of reading up on the historically mischievous acts of the stray aquairum snail 🥹 I feel calm again!

thank you! Hopefully it will all grow in great!

 

[sophlearnspatience]

Mother nature at her best...bladder snails are tough, should be fine, and a welcome addition.
Pity you can't use yeast and sugar for gentle CO2, cheap, cheerful, easy and green. With hard water CO2 injection is real miracle worker, a small tank like your cube would work well with a citric acid and bicarb system, about £50 for a steel tank system with no solenoid on Amazon, I personally from experience, don't think a timer control & solenoid is necessary if the bubble count is low.
But Darrel is the real expert here, and there are as he says plants which will thrive in hard water without injecting CO2 but growth will always be slow.
If you haven't seen it, this link is interesting and relevant to your setup, and George is using tap water, hard tap water in his tanks. I posted this link sometime ago on this site, I'm in danger of being an old fool who repeats himself.
Best of luck.

I'll check this video out now, i dont recognise the thumbnail so ive probably not seen it, thank you - the only reason I was put off of a full Co2 set up was cost and space, so far I've forked out very little for the set up and was quite pleased about that, but maybe I will consider putting what I saved by being thrifty into a co2 system a little later!

Yes he is a bladder snail isnt he, different shell! He's rasping away on the biofilm, I imagine I'll see more of them very soon.

 

[dw1305]

Hi all,

just by the sheer audacity of his arrival I assume he is a ramshorn

He / She / They looks like a <"Pond Snail"> (and probably Ampullaceana balthica (Radix balthica)), you need to look at the tentacles - <"Snail Identification">.

If the tentacles are actually really thin (like in the image)? It is a <"Tadpole Snail"> (Physella acuta).

I repatriate any Pond snails to the pond, because they are plant eaters, but I'm a fan of Physella acuta.

cheers Darrel

 

[sophlearnspatience]

Hi all,

He / She / They looks like a <"Pond Snail"> (and probably Ampullaceana balthica (Radix balthica)), you need to look at the tentacles - <"Snail Identification">.

If the tentacles are actually really thin (like in the image)? It is a <"Tadpole Snail"> (Physella acuta).

I repatriate any Pond snails to the pond, because they are plant eaters, but I'm a fan of Physella acuta.

cheers Darrel

Let me get a good close up and properly ID him, very tiny and seethrough right now so yes I'll look closer at the tentacles. If I can still see him hovering. I will not be amused if I end up with a tank full of stalks and my neighbour does has a lovely pond so if in doubt...
Thank you again, Darrel, the cube will remember.

 

[sophlearnspatience]

Hi all,

He / She / They looks like a <"Pond Snail"> (and probably Ampullaceana balthica (Radix balthica)), you need to look at the tentacles - <"Snail Identification">.

If the tentacles are actually really thin (like in the image)? It is a <"Tadpole Snail"> (Physella acuta).

I repatriate any Pond snails to the pond, because they are plant eaters, but I'm a fan of Physella acuta.

cheers Darrel

I think on looking at both snails IDs on a site, it's more likely to be a bladder snail, thinner long tentacles instead of the flatter ones I recognise on pond snails, but he is VERY TINY so honestly, I'm unsure. Its hard to get any sort of detail on a picture of him because of the size. But I tried a clearer one. His shell looks more mottled currently than solid colour from the otherside but its impossible to get a pic from that angle.

 

[Connswater]

Pond snails to the pond

I admire your eyesight Darrel, never mind your knowledge of 'Gastropods', though in years of keeping tropical fish I don't think, stress 'think', I've ever had the 'bigger' 'British' snails, that is a true species of native pond snail in my tropical tank with the admirable exception of red ramshorns which I definitely had when fishkeeping as a kid in Belfast. Currently I have small snails, slightly lighter/more translucent shells which I assumed/guessed meant they were bladder snails (short whirl on the end of the shell?) and Malaysian trumpet snails (long thin more conch like shell and basically nocturnal). I keep hoping for red rams hornsnails to appear but plants are now so sterile from the big growers, so no such luck. Certainly I have no evidence at all of snail damage to plants, and taking an aside for a moment, apart from plecos and tinfoil barbs, most of the time folks have told me the fish are eating their plants, they were clearly actually just killing the plants with poor light and almost no dissolved CO2, they had I think just observed livebearers feeding on algae on dead and dying leaves and assumed they were consuming the plants, in fact most plants in good conditions grow so well the fish would have to be very hungry to impact on growth, unlike the slugs and snails in the garden, and the goldfish in the pond do not impact on plant life at all, so I am surprised folks worry goldfish eat the plants in their tanks, I think something else is going on. But in the garden in the spring, the blackbirds seem to do more damage to freshly planted immature plants compared to slugs and snails (though I have a lot of frogs, no toads yet), with some help from some pesky grey squirrels. Tossing immature plants out of the borders on to the paths willy-nilly in their pursuit of worms etc., but such is the way of nature, it makes me smile rather than reach for chicken wire to temporarily protect young plants.
In the pond I definitely have Great Pond snails, sometimes they are whoppers, and what I think is the Wandering Pond snail, maybe in my main tank with moderately softened water and bright lights the shell is more translucent, though having written that, I just remembered that my wildlife pond has very soft water and sunlight in the summer, even here in England it can be very bright, I vaguely remember proper sun light after this grey, wet, long, period of maritime drabness. Basically my wildlife pond is rain water, soil substrate and the shells of the snails seem greyer and less translucent.
Back to school for me.