Low Tech 30cm cube setup

[oblivion]

Hi Guys,

I'm planning a low tech 1ft cube setup for my fiancee by salvaging some equipments that I have lying around.

Would like some comments on the viability of this setup.
Priorities are low maintenance and for the setup to last.

Tank size: 1ft cube
Filter: Eden 501 with filter wool (1st layer) & Biohome Plus (2nd layer)
Lighting: 13W PL 8000K with external ballast
Co2: SeaChem Excel
Cooling: Cyber Aqua Mr Cool-200 cooling fan
Substrate: ADA Aquasoil Amazonia Type II

Fert & WC Regime:
- Planned 30% WC monthly + a pinch of Equilibrium during WC
- No fertilisation initially, probably a pinch of KNO3 & KH2PO4 every week as the setup matures and the Amazonia starts to get depleted.

Layout & Flora:
- 3 main Iwagumi rocks with E. Tenellus covering all over as the background plant
- Foreground (about front 1/4 of tank) will be ADA Bright Sand and left empty
- Multiple small rocks tied with willow moss will be laid at the dividing line between the Amazonia and the Bright Sand
- Toying with the idea of mixing in some nana petite (tied to small rocks) in front of the 3 main rocks and some glossostigma in the midground area around the 3 main rocks to add some variety to the leaf shapes, but not very sure about how well the glosso will be able to do. Any other plant ideas?

Fauna: Plan to have 2 otos, a bumblebee snail, a couple of Malayan shrimps & a school of 10-12 boraras urophthalmoides.

Hope to get some feedback on the viability of this setup before I actually put this into action.

Thanks.

[aqua2525]

Hi Bro,
Where did you get Amazoina Type II from?
I Been waiting to get it.
What is the differance between both?
How much does It cost for a 9L Bag?

[Wackytpt]

Hi Aqua2525,

A gentle reminder that the forum frowns on short forms and kindly write in proper sentences. Please don't start each word with a Captial Letter. We would appreicate your co-operation on this.

To answer your question, the ADA Singapore distributor should be bring in Amazonia II into our shores soon.

If you are interested to know more, kindly go to Eco Culture to enquire.

As for the difference between the both, go do a search in our forum. I believe this topic was discuss before.

[illumnae]

Hi lee1224,

I just set up a 1ft cube tank myself. I was told that with 13W lighting you shouldn't need to dose excel or ferts or you may end up with algae problems. for my cube tank, set up about 2 weeks ago, my E tenellus is doing fine with no form of dosing at all...i believe the same can be said of moss and nana (my us fissiden is doing well too and i think it's slightly more demanding than some mosses?).

no idea about glosso though, i always thought they needed high lighting to stay compact and spread out as a lawn.

what do you intend to keep as fauna for this tank? it sounds like it'll be very nicely scaped from what you described =) all the best and do post pictures!

[Quixotic]

I was told that with 13W lighting you shouldn't need to dose excel or ferts or you may end up with algae problems.

For those new into planted tanks, this is probably the best possible advice on the "safe" side, but for experienced aquarists, it is not impossible to dose, EI also works for low tech tanks.

Dosing:
Since the plants are the same as they are in a CO2 enriched tank and we know the rates of uptake are there, we can scale down the rates for the non CO2 dosing routine.

And, uhm, the fauna is listed what.

Fauna: Plan to have 2 otos, a bumblebee snail, a couple of Malayan shrimps & a school of 10-12 boraras urophthalmoides.

lee1224, Crypts are excellent plants for the low tech tank.

[oblivion]

Hi Bro,
Where did you get Amazoina Type II from?
I Been waiting to get it.
What is the differance between both?
How much does It cost for a 9L Bag?

Hi aqua2525,

I got mine from a colleague who was on business trip in Japan.
He bought the Amazonia Type II and the Bright Sand for me.

Not sure if Singapore has it yet. So far I have not seen any around.
But I wouldn't be surprised if its starts appearing in our shops soon.

[oblivion]

Hi lee1224,

I just set up a 1ft cube tank myself. I was told that with 13W lighting you shouldn't need to dose excel or ferts or you may end up with algae problems. for my cube tank, set up about 2 weeks ago, my E tenellus is doing fine with no form of dosing at all...i believe the same can be said of moss and nana (my us fissiden is doing well too and i think it's slightly more demanding than some mosses?).

no idea about glosso though, i always thought they needed high lighting to stay compact and spread out as a lawn.

what do you intend to keep as fauna for this tank? it sounds like it'll be very nicely scaped from what you described =) all the best and do post pictures!

Hi illumnae,

I have experimented on both dosing of Excel/ferts and also totally without any dosing on some of my other small low tech setups previously.
I would say all 3 methods - 1) full EI, 2) no dosing and 3) slight controlled dosing all work.
I think my planned 13W of lighting with some occasional dashes of Excel, Equilibrium, KNO3 and KH2PO4 should not induce algae problems and helps give a little boost for healthy plant growth.
As Quixotic so kindly quoted from Tom Barr, we should be able to scale accordingly along the recommended EI dosage based on our lighting amount.

The glosso isn't meant to spread out as a lawn. I'm using Bright Sand as the foreground, so technically there is no lawn.
In my setup, I wouldn't expect the glosso to creep at all but instead grow vertically upwards like other stem plants.
I'm just hoping it helps give some variety to the leave shapes around the rocks.
Asking for opinions around here as I am not sure if the glosso will grow well in my setup.
I'm afraid the glosso stems will be weak and the leaves yellowish in my kind of setup

And yes, as Quixotic also noted, I already listed the planned fauna

[oblivion]

lee1224, Crypts are excellent plants for the low tech tank.

Hi Quixotic,

Yeah I had considered crypts for the setup but ditched the idea as I couldn't quite fit in a crypt species that would be in line with the look I hope to acheive.

[exotic]

i think iam going to get that soil to try out...

[oblivion]

i think iam going to get that soil to try out...

its still in my storeroom and i have not tried it out yet
hope and think that it should justify the hype
cause i personally did experience several times of yellowish water with normal amazonia

hoping to setup this for my fiancee soon
planning to buy a small 43cm square table from ikea as the stand but ikea is out of stock at the moment
so no choice have to wait till the table comes in before i can setup