# Planted Tanks > Aquascaping >  My new 1FT "Cube".

## vwsj84

Newly setup 30x30x35 cm tank (made by weeyang). Thanks to blue33 for the spiky moss which are in excellent condition!!! First time trying out CO2 injection at 1 BPS. Currently fert regime consists of wondergro micro and macro. Please feel free to give your comments. Thanks and Cheers.  :Smile: 



Btw, can someone help me ID my background plant? hahaha

* Latest Update : Jan 14 2009*





Side by side with my Moss Jungle 1ft cube... aka shrimp breeding ground.  :Grin:

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## BlackShrimp

nice foreground...  :Grin: 

hope the downoi won't melt because mine did.  :Crying:

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## wenwei

maybe a oyama paper will make the scape clearer and nicer. :Grin:

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## vwsj84

Thanks for the comments guys !  :Laughing:

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## WiNd08

nicely done bro!

why not push the diffuser back and add a black background and adjust the rainbar nicely? or maybe even change to a lily pipe outflow? :Smile:

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## vwsj84

> nicely done bro!
> 
> why not push the diffuser back and add a black background and adjust the rainbar nicely? or maybe even change to a lily pipe outflow?


Thanks !!!  :Smile: 

haha... actually for the rainbar i cut it so that it can fit in a 1 ft tank... however i realised that the speed of flow from the small holes r too high... causing too much turbulence in the tank... so i removed the end cap. however if i keep it parallel to the tank near the top... there will be a "swell" near the edge... causing potential spillage. 

May change to a lily pipe outflow in the future

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## blue33

> Newly setup 30x30x35 cm tank (made by weeyang). Thanks to blue33 for the spiky moss which are in excellent condition!!! First time trying out CO2 injection at 1 BPS. Currently fert regime consists of wondergro micro and macro. Please feel free to give your comments. Thanks and Cheers. 
> Btw, can someone help me ID my background plant? hahaha


No problem bro.  :Smile:  Currently i've harvest another 4 tub of spiky moss(in excellent condition) to be sold by this week, they are well fed and in thick lump also.  :Grin:  I like your setup, i can see that the spiky moss is nicely done on the wood.  :Well done:  Keep us posted.  :Smile:

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## vwsj84

> No problem bro.  Currently i've harvest another 4 tub of spiky moss(in excellent condition) to be sold by this week, they are well fed and in thick lump also.  I like your setup, i can see that the spiky moss is nicely done on the wood.  Keep us posted.


Thanks for the words of encouragement !  :Smile: 

Wow... where do u grow ur spiky moss ? How come always got so much to harvest... haha

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## blue33

LOL! Thats a secret.  :Grin:  They grow very fast on me, give them good condition and they will reward you.  :Laughing:

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## vwsj84

> LOL! Thats a secret.  They grow very fast on me, give them good condition and they will reward you.


EI method plus lotsa light? hahaha... I wonder if my 2 x 13w PL lightset for 1ft is overkill.

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## fishbuger

Hi bro your tank is small yet it looks packed with plants.Has a very healthy feel to it with all that green  :Grin: Good luck with the moss  :Grin:

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## vwsj84

> Hi bro your tank is small yet it looks packed with plants.Has a very healthy feel to it with all that green Good luck with the moss


Thanks !  :Smile: 

Yeah... hope the high number of plants will prevent any algae outbreak. On a more serious and sad note, i've noticed some melting on my downois and baby tears. Anyone got ideas how to stop this? 
Thankfully the HC looks to be doing well... pearling and producing new leaf buds.

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## illumnae

> EI method plus lotsa light? hahaha... I wonder if my 2 x 13w PL lightset for 1ft is overkill.


Nope it's not overkill  :Smile:  I was using 2x 13w PL for my 1ft cube in office and it was just nice, i wouldn't even say it's very high light.

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## wenwei

:Smile: the break betweent the forground plants and the plants at the rear (the right area) is quite abrupt.. maybe can plants some mid plant to make the change more gradual?.. just a suggestion..  :Smile:

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## vwsj84

Downoi and Baby tears were not doing well and melting... so decided to do a little rescape.

Anyway... my plants r not pearling... is it due to lack of CO2? I'm now injecting @ approx 60 bubbles every 40 seconds = slightly more than 1 bps. Lights are at 2 x 13 w...

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## blue33

Seems to me the CO2 is not circulating around. The scape looking much better.  :Smile:  You can try single hose blow directly against the CO2 or place the CO2 underneath the rainbar.

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## vwsj84

okie... shall try to improve water circulation...

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## vwsj84

Updates as of 06/01/2009.

Added a few sakura shrimps and 3 ottos. GSA has appeared on the glass... but it isn't a problem for me. HC is growing well... but doesn't look as green as it can be (like torque's 1FT cube)... i.e. leaves are brownish green. Anyone can help me solve this?

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## torque6

> Updates as of 06/01/2009.
> 
> Added a few sakura shrimps and 3 ottos. GSA has appeared on the glass... but it isn't a problem for me. HC is growing well... but doesn't look as green as it can be (like torque's 1FT cube)... i.e. leaves are brownish green. Anyone can help me solve this?


well, not much to help since i don't add anything to the tank, not even ferts, tried wondergro /micro/macro but ended up with hair algae within 3 weeks. Yours looks to be spreading pretty low compared to mine which has strangelers.

Wow, you're keeping 3 ottos already in a 1FT ! After seeing 1x 4cm otto at y618, i decided against keeping them in a 1FT, though illumnae do have experince keeping 3 zebras within a 1FT contained environment.

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## vwsj84

> well, not much to help since i don't add anything to the tank, not even ferts, tried wondergro /micro/macro but ended up with hair algae within 3 weeks. Yours looks to be spreading pretty low compared to mine which has strangelers.
> 
> Wow, you're keeping 3 ottos already in a 1FT ! After seeing 1x 4cm otto at y618, i decided against keeping them in a 1FT, though illumnae do have experince keeping 3 zebras within a 1FT contained environment.


wow... not anything? haha... i think they grow low cos of my light... 2 X 13 watt PL + 1 18w pink/white PL

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## torque6

yup, i've kept to the <3wpg rule even for a 1FT, thus allowing some HCs but not all to grow tall. 

You have 26w of lighting more than me. Perhaps thats' the difference. Do take note however, each tank is unique, having the same set of parameters doesn't equate to similar results all the time as variables in each tank cannot be measured. Besides this, I've read your first post that you are running 1bps ? I'm running 0.5bps with 18w 865 osram daylight illunmax.

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## vwsj84

thanks for the advice torque... shall reduce the lighting to allow my HC to grow taller...  :Grin:

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## vwsj84

Updated first post  :Grin:

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## fighting fish

wow impressive tank man...hope to have something like yours someday. noticed that the tank beside your custom tank is curved edge? care to share where u got it from and pricing? if convenient? thanks

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## vwsj84

> wow impressive tank man...hope to have something like yours someday. noticed that the tank beside your custom tank is curved edge? care to share where u got it from and pricing? if convenient? thanks


Thanks for the compliment ! I'm also a newbie in this hobby... lots to learn  :Smile:  . Anyway i think the curved tank ( 30cm x 30cm x 35cm ) is an ocean free tank ( if i remembered correctly  :Roll Eyes:  ) and was purchased from C328. Pricewise I cannot remember exactly how much I paid... but I remembered that I didn't pay that much for it.

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## fighting fish

seems like i got to pay a visit to C328 "auntie" one of this days liao...thanks :Grin:

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## mervin

I have been out of this for a while now but may I suggest that the CO2 hidden at the back.

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## vwsj84

> I have been out of this for a while now but may I suggest that the CO2 hidden at the back.


Thinking of changing to an external reactor... however not sure if my 2211 can run it.

Anyway... *UPDATES* !  :Grin:

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## vwsj84

* Latest Update : Feb 01 2009

*Plant growth has been excellent so far !  :Grin: 
However have noticed hair algae growing on my HC and moss...  :Sad: 
Could be due to my high lighting duration of almost 13 hrs a day  :Shocked: ... Can't seem to stop looking at my tank at night !  :Roll Eyes: 





Thanks to Adrian a.k.a Blue33 for the excellent spiky moss.  :Grin:

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## Jungle-mania

With a scissor, remove the moss and HC that has algae, it should be fine. You might want to moderate your fert with the shrimp food. Very well maintained tank, I see you took alot of care in trimming.

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## wenwei

Nice nice nice..

Nice mixture of plants with different colours. Hopefully your endlers will do their "jobs" 

So, are you adding any others fishes?.

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## blue33

Wow... The scape really looking good.  :Smile:  Great job!  :Well done:

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## vwsj84

> Nice nice nice..
> 
> Nice mixture of plants with different colours. Hopefully your endlers will do their "jobs" 
> 
> So, are you adding any others fishes?.


Not sure yet bro... endlers not really doing their job yet !  :Exasperated: 




> With a scissor, remove the moss and HC that has algae, it should be fine. You might want to moderate your fert with the shrimp food. Very well maintained tank, I see you took alot of care in trimming.


Thanks !  :Grin:  Haha... I'm still a noob in trimming. Still experimenting ! Good thing is the Rotalas grow fast ! So can experiment quite often.




> Wow... The scape really looking good.  Great job!


Thanks !  :Grin:  Trying to get the Rotala Rotundifolia & Ludwigia ( I think ?  :Huh?:  ) to slope down nicely to the moss DW... Dunno possible or not. Shall try the method u mentioned !  :Laughing: 

On a side note ! spotted this mean looking bug in my tank on sunday. Think it was a dragonfly nymph ! How the hell it got into my tank i will never know.



Was crawling on the HC lawn... didn't notice it was actually stalking one of my baby shrimps... then suddenly... POW ! the baby shrimp disappeared  :Shocked: . DAMN ! promptly took my planting tweezers to grab hold of that bugger and CRUSHED its abdomen area promptly !  :Evil:  
That felt really good.  :Angel:

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## Viper007

Very nice 1ft Tank! :Smile: 

Nice pix of the insect too. Very detail indeed.

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## vwsj84

> Very nice 1ft Tank!
> 
> Nice pix of the insect too. Very detail indeed.


Thanks !  :Grin: 

I didn't take that pic ! I just link it from the " Bugs u may encounter in your tank " thread.  :Smile:

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## blue33

You can see from this picture the end result of the slope of my rotala using the method i mention, but it need quiet compact to get this slope and nice.



Btw endler dont really eat hair algae unless they are being starve or you have lots of endlers looking for food but that might not be idea, your baby shrimp might be targeted also.  :Smile:

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## vwsj84

Haha... lucky my endlers have not shown a liking for my baby shrimps yet.. maybe they r hiding quite well.  :Grin: 

Anyway Adrian... I was wondering if you tie any net to your filter inlet to prevent baby shrimpies from being sucked in the filter? Or do u just leave it as it is and take it as an acceptable lost when baby shrimps get sucked in to ensure good filtration?  :Grin:

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## blue33

Have you ever heard the killing always done in the darkness...  :Laughing:  You'll never know.

Initially i've done that but later i move the inlet infront, shrimp dont really get close to it so i remove it later on to get a better flow, currently using the surface skimmer so the hole is consider quite small but baby shrimp still able to go in, but then they will still survive inside, so during cleaning of filter just watch out the little's one inside the filter, you'll get surpise of many inside.  :Grin:

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## wenwei

Vic,

I found that in my tank a day ago too... irritating creatures. maybe is the weather? haha. But somehow, its normally white in colour when I find them.

Poor shrimps.  :Grin:

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## wenwei

Hi Adrian,

Did you trim the plants and they keep splitting up?. or you planted very densely?

Or maybe u did both?... your slope is really nice. Thanks alot for sharing.

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## blue33

Trim and replant them back till they are very compact and when they're full grown, trim to the desire slope i've shown you that day.  :Smile:  To do that, your water circulation must be well adjust inorder for the nutrients to flow and to feed the plant bed.  :Grin:

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## DE-ROC

Nicely done cube, could you tell me what plant that is that you used for ground cover? Thanks!

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## vwsj84

> Nicely done cube, could you tell me what plant that is that you used for ground cover? Thanks!


Hi there... Thanks for the compliment !  :Smile: 

My foreground plant is Hemianthus Callitrichoides "Cuba" or more commonly known as HC.

More info here :

http://www.aquatic-eden.com/2006/09/...richoides.html

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## wenwei

Alright, thanks. will try that soon.  :Grin:  will take note of what u said

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## wenwei

vic,

How is the mid ground plant growing?.. Are they growing high fast? :Opps:

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## weeyang19

> * Latest Update : Feb 01 2009*
> 
> Plant growth has been excellent so far ! 
> However have noticed hair algae growing on my HC and moss... 
> Could be due to my high lighting duration of almost 13 hrs a day ... Can't seem to stop looking at my tank at night ! 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> ...


Wah bro ur Tank Scaping Nice mann,... Will Build one the same size to do another mini Scaping like your  :Smile:

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## vwsj84

> Wah bro ur Tank Scaping Nice mann,... Will Build one the same size to do another mini Scaping like your


Thanks for the compliment !  :Grin: 

Thanks for the wonderful tank also !  :Grin: 
This scape would not have been possible without good tank suppliers like you.

Am thinking about getting a 2 tier stainless steel or WI stand... bottom will put my 2 1 FT cubes... top will probably be a new 2 FT project. However I will need some customisation with respect to depth and the number of cross beams. Maybe can pm me with possible quotation? Thanks !  :Smile:

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## craftsman

Very very nice bro!! Reduce lighting period to 8 hours a day, and you might fix your algae issue. If you wanna view at night, do a split lighting regime. For myself, I turn on at 6am (My dining area become very bright, and in the morning, I don't need to turn on other dining room lighting... :Grin:  :Laughing: ) so that I can view my tank, feed my fishes while I am having breakfast. Then light goes off at 10am (Total lighting of 4 hours)

In the evening, light comes on again at 6pm, and off at 10pm. (4 hours) so that I can view during dinner and until I sleep.  :Grin:  :Grin: 

Initially, I turned on my lights for 10 hours, and I started getting algae. Then, I reduced my lights & CO2 to 8 hours, and put in UV, and all is now hunky dory.  :Jump for joy:  :Jump for joy:  :Jump for joy:

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## blackBRUSHalgae

very very healthy grow you have! May I know what is your temp range with only cooling fan? What is WI stand anyway?

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## vwsj84

> very very healthy grow you have! May I know what is your temp range with only cooling fan? What is WI stand anyway?


Thanks for the compliment !  :Grin: 
I'm using the new range of blower style fans ( like ur air-con blower ) for my tank. Temperature ranges from 25.5 to 26.5 degrees... probably because its the cooler season now and my house is pretty enclosed and shaded. 

WI stand is wrought iron stand  :Grin:

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## torque6

> * Latest Update : Feb 01 2009*
> 
> Plant growth has been excellent so far ! 
> However have noticed hair algae growing on my HC and moss... 
> Could be due to my high lighting duration of almost 13 hrs a day ...


Good growth and nice moderation on bioload too, not too heavy on the biofiltrations. Becareful of hair algae, once they start growing, its a matter of time before they establish themselves in the tank. Its takes close to 6-7 months to remove them once they settles in your tank for more than 2 weeks.

If possible, startup your lights to favour ending in the evenings if you enjoy viewing your tank after 7-8pm, just make sure they dont get too much natural light during the day.

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## vwsj84

*UPDATES !!!*



The tank on the left is my low-tech shrimp breeding tank. Plants include various mosses, nanas, java fern & US fissiden. My first ever tank ! Recently did some trimming as the moss was overgrown. Still a little messy so probably will do another trimming soon. Countless sakura, tiger shrimps inside, a few boraras and 2 mini-crayfish ! See if u can spot them !!!  :Grin:  



Sakura shrimp from my "high-tech" tank  :Smile:

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## blue33

Very nice.  :Cool:

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## weeyang19

> Thanks for the compliment ! 
> 
> Thanks for the wonderful tank also ! 
> This scape would not have been possible without good tank suppliers like you.
> 
> Am thinking about getting a 2 tier stainless steel or WI stand... bottom will put my 2 1 FT cubes... top will probably be a new 2 FT project. However I will need some customisation with respect to depth and the number of cross beams. Maybe can pm me with possible quotation? Thanks !


Thanks bro for the comment,... i do have SS Stand too just let me know 
Cant wait to see more beautiful set up from u

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## wenwei

the snails in your tank are having a great life... living in such a nice environment. :Grin:  :Grin:

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## vwsj84

> the snails in your tank are having a great life... living in such a nice environment.


.......

yes...  :Kiss: 

But no matter how many i remove... they r still there.  :Grin:

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## uklau

:Shocked:  Gorgeous tank!

Well done  :Well done:

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## tcy81

very nice 1ft tank.  :Well done:

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## vwsj84

> very nice 1ft tank.


Thanks !  :Grin: ... did a major trimming last week... now HC has been attacked by hair algae... argh  :Opps:

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## blue33

> Thanks ! ... did a major trimming last week... now HC has been attacked by hair algae... argh


To prevent hair algae attack inthe future, those trimmed plant tie with cotton wool that use for filter media and put back into the tank. When you trimmed your plant you have to reduce nutrients and sometime CO2 as plant is quite weak at this time, so it will not intake that fast anymore, when plant slow down the intake of CO2, the bb in the filter may suffer due to too much CO2.

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## vwsj84

UPDATES !!!  :Grin: 

After a major trimming session and weeks of "neglect"... I realised my tank has turned into a JUNGLE ! I dunno what can i do to make my stem plants behind look nice.... and my HC has all but been destroyed by hair algae... so i decided to uproot them and replace them with nice little Sakura shrimps  :Grin:

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## weeyang19

> UPDATES !!! 
> 
> After a major trimming session and weeks of "neglect"... I realised my tank has turned into a JUNGLE ! I dunno what can i do to make my stem plants behind look nice.... and my HC has all but been destroyed by hair algae... so i decided to uproot them and replace them with nice little Sakura shrimps


Wah bro so many red army  :Smile:

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## Verminator

Stunningly healthy looking Anubias nana. If only mine grew so compact like yours.

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## torque6

That's sure alot of sakura's you have in the tank. I've counted close to 30+ sakuras.....

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