BMueller's 12"x12" Cube (Pic heavy - 56KW)

[BMueller777]

Hey guys,

So I set up my tank that I just built, a 12"x12" cube. I used a whole bag of Eco-Complete, gave me about a 2.5"-3" depth. I'm using a AC-50 on minimal flow with 2 sponges and a stacked layer of ceramic rings. All this media came from another one of my tanks that's been running for like two years. I have a 25 watt heater set at 76-78*F. A 12" Coralife fixture with (2) 10,000K bulbs, 36 watts in total. Hardscape of (4) Zebra rocks and a piece of Grape Vine.

I'm dosing Flourish Excel (2 ml a day after a morning water change of like 20% daily) only so far in combo with the Eco-Complete and 8 hours of light (36 watts).

What else should I dose? I was thinking of doing a DIY CO2 with a 2 liter bottle... Should I do that?

Live things: (9) Neon Tetras, (5) Ghost Shrimp, (3) Cherry Shrimp, (1) Trapdoor Snail, (1) male Betta and (1) Blue German Ram.

Plants: Narrow Leaf Chain Sword, Bronze Wendth and three other plants I don't know what are. I'll try and get pics of them soon, I just picked them up today.


Here's a few pics from the build of the tank:

This is the old lamp I had, it was a 15 watt CFL 5,500*K bulb. I'll get pics of the new Coralife.

I'll post new pics some time tomorrow of the newest set up.

So lemme know what you guys think lol.





Thanks,
-Brian

 

[Outlander]

Very nice! And to have built it yourself must feel great. Well done

Just one thing.... do you have to add ferts and do w/c's on a daily basis? I would have thought once a week would be plenty.

As for Co 2, I'm not a fan personally but if you want to have a go a small DIY system would be good. Also betta's are jumpers so maybe a lid would be a good idea! On the whole though looks great!!!

Cheers Outlander.

 

[Sab_Fan]

regarding the ceramic rings: I don't use any bio-media in my planted tanks, since it competes with the plants, which use ammonia as a food source . . .

basically, the plants themselves make the bio-media unnecessary; my ammonia/nitrites are zero, and nitrates are minimal

 

[BMueller777]

Very nice! And to have built it yourself must feel great. Well done

Just one thing.... do you have to add ferts and do w/c's on a daily basis? I would have thought once a week would be plenty.

As for Co 2, I'm not a fan personally but if you want to have a go a small DIY system would be good. Also betta's are jumpers so maybe a lid would be a good idea! On the whole though looks great!!!

Cheers Outlander.

Thank you. It was my first time building one, I think it came out pretty good, I did however mess with the seams a little too much outta paranoia to ensure it was a good seal and it kinda messed one or two up just a little as it was curing.

The first few days the tank was up I was doing daily water changes to make sure the dying off beneficial bacteria from the switch was taken care of, after the W/C I add 1ml of Excel. Now I'll be doing 2-3 small w/c's a week and dosing 1 ml of Excel a day due to the 36 watts of light.

I think I'll give the DIY CO2 a shot today, I'll just run my ghetto DIY diffuser (cotton from a cigarette filter, unsmoked of course) into my AC50. My only concern for that though it that it'll be running 24 hours a day and I'm worried it'll mess with the pH once the lights are off...

As far as a lid goes the Coralife fixture covers a good 8 inches of the top and at night (when they usually jump) I block off the other part with a towel or something... Might make a lid soon though.

regarding the ceramic rings: I don't use any bio-media in my planted tanks, since it competes with the plants, which use ammonia as a food source . . .

basically, the plants themselves make the bio-media unnecessary; my ammonia/nitrites are zero, and nitrates are minimal

I'll be testing my water soon to get the parameters but I don't think my plants are established enough to take the whole bio load alone without some help from a filters bio media...

Thanks guys,
-Brian

 

[BMueller777]

pH: 7.2-7.6 (can't really tell)
Nitrite: 0 ppm (mg/L)
Nitrate: 0 ppm (mg/L)
Ammonia: .050-1.0 ppm (mg/L) (It's a color in between the two according to the g/f lol)

Is that good or bad? Should I do a w/c?

 

[BMueller777]

Okay so here's a current update of my setup:

Lemme know what you guys think Open to any and all suggestions





-Brian

 

[kjfan1]

Love it. You inspire me greatly

 

[BMueller777]

Love it. You inspire me greatly

Thank you very much. Even though this is just my 1st tank I think I'm already addicted :lipsseale well, 1st real planted tank where things are actually paid attention to unlike my previous endeavors lol

 

[kjfan1]

Planted tanks are alot of fun IMO but they require patience and work. Have you considered CO2? Lighting? Filtration.(im to lazy to scroll up and check on it)

I am thinking about making a similar cube soon.

 

[Johnnybravo60025]

Looks good, but just watch out for the shrimp. The Ghost shrimp will most likely end up killing the RCS.