Allll haillll the Cubbbbe!
Things have been a bit mad in life so apologies for the delayed updates! (I accidentally slipped and built a few 35-65litre bucket wildlife ponds during this time...)
The Cube at this point enjoys humbling me at any given opportunity. I can't complain, we all need humbling occasionally.
So, RO water worked at bringing my TDS down, KH is down to 5 and I dont really want it to drop further than that. GH is high (a friend tested it for me and it was 18.... ???). I continued with water changes as needed, top ups as needed. Not really sure about how to tackle GH from this point - if its 18 now everything else has gone down, what on earth was it before and how do I reduce that without plummeting my other measurements... so ive left it until I have space for it, and kept periodically checking the other parameters. I'm still confused how those parameters spiralled out of control, even if I have mostly/somewhat fixed it.
For anyone wondering - I bought RO from maidenhead aquatics, I had my own canister, 25litres was £4. Im in SE england so it will probably be cheaper other places in the country, if that's still a thing. The 25litre canister IF I had bought one from them was £12.99, so its more hassle to transport than costly for a tank this size.
All other tests are fine! No ammonia, no nitrites, rarely does nitrates read now. PH has shifted down to 7.4, much less of a drop that I expected but Im pleased!
Shrimp seemed fine and then 2 more died during molting and that felt like lasting stress, both had the classic white ring, neither showed signs of stress before dying, it was their time to molt, maybe my earlier water qualities did it. I'm still learning. There are only so many forums I can talk to about shrimp problems without getting the same answers... at times google directs me to reddit and it can feel like im reading broken heart columns "I woke up this morning and my shrimp of a year just up and left me taking my life savings with him" haha, I jest - I did collect some very valuable info and right now I'm playing another game of patience.
My plants went mad! The stems and frogbit took over for a while and it was like looking into a cave, there was barely any light hitting the bottom. It was amazing to see how everything interacted, the stems instead of going up and out, started trailing along the surface and around the wood, the larger snails were going for snack strolls across the top of the frogbit and the shrimp were out all of the time in the front grazing. Frogbit roots were down to the substrate and everyone was using them like forest vines. I confess this did make me want a black water tank even more, the roots and cave like space felt almost mangrove-y ... no, sophie, you mustn't..... patience.... patience....
This shrimp found some green algae just above the surface...
I trimmed the plants back as the mid-fore ground plants were sulking from limited light (the monte carlo at the front seems to struggle a little bit in this tank) and I have seen maybe 2 shrimp since - clearly I upset their fragile little shrimpy sensibilities. I think I'd be spooked if a giant hand rearranged my house too, but its been 2 days and I genuinely could have a load of dead shrimp in there and no knowledge they're so well hidden in the thickness of the stems at the back. I never imagined how difficult it would be to keep track of a handful of bright red shrimp in 25litres...... absolute masters of hide and seek.
All except this fella....
HALLELUJAH! The berried shrimp (who at one point was full on waddling she was so big) has clearly had some babies, WHO KNOWS HOW MANY. Ive seen 4 at once, and I didnt see them until I had trimmed the plants back (most of which went back in the tank). Honestly they could have a pack of wolves and a gambling ring hidden back there and i'd not have a clue. They are tiny, a couple of mm's!
Plenty of booming and busting with the bladder snail population but they are a strong and steady presence. The hydra population dropped when the copepod population dropped, the stringy detritus worms seem less and less and I am left with mostly flatworms who I THINK are rhabdocoela. I dont want to wrongly persecute them but I remain suspicious and often narrow my eyes at them just incase they are planaria in some sort of elaborate disguise... but they're tiny and I'll be damned if I go around attacking children of the cube over this anti flatworm propaganda!
I just tried to take a nice photo of the cube today as the light is hitting the plants in a satisfying way, but alas, sunlight is causing a glare so later I will take some photos and plonk them below!
Oh, guys, how do you clean the back of a tank that is THICK with plants? I can see the substrate could do with "a hoover" but I can't get to it, (I'll be waiting anyway until the baby shrimp are a little bigger).
Jerry the mini ramshorn is living happily in his jar of marimo balls and java moss. He is a tiny powerhouse, I have been debating adding him back into the cube but I love keeping an eye on him.
I do regret not waiting longer for the shrimp, although some things I didnt know about didnt seem to come up in my shrimp keeping searches, so heed that warning if you're reading and new to shrimp too - it was easier to find why something had already gone wrong than it was to prevent it from happening in the first place for me, search what could go wrong as well as how to keep them - I dont take life lightly at all, especially in my care, so it's felt quite disheartening losing multiple little lives in a short time, even if it seems quite common.
I plod on hoping this new generation will survive to be stronger than their brave parents who first swam these lands!
All Hail the Cube!
