1st tank - Nano 1ft Cube Tank

**ecar0h** · 29th Jan 2009, 00:43

Originally Posted by |squee|

Nice arrangement! Try pushing the left group slightly to the right a bit.

You'll have to keep the plants in check often otherwise they'll devour up the rock arrangement.

Hi squee, thanks, point taken, I'll try to shift it over the weekend. Hope the plants don't die on me.

By keeping the plants "in check", do you mean trimming? I had conflicting advice from reading online materials and my LFS on how to maintain recently planted hairgrass. One says "trim hairgrass till 1-2cm once planted to prevent it from dying", but my LFS friend told me to just spread the bunch of HG out, plant it and wait.

Should I trim the HG?

Also noticed the tenelus has some leaves turning soft and translucent. why is this happening?

**ecar0h** · 29th Jan 2009, 00:43

Originally Posted by rainman

I'm liking it.. thanks for sharing

thanks rainman!

**ecar0h** · 24th Feb 2009, 07:50

Had a little time to do a quick update on the nano 1.5ft project.

Added black oyama paper on rear. Jap HG is creeping gradually cos this is after all a low-tech setup. Hope to see it populate the foreground by the end of this year.

Am lucky that at least there's not too much algae growth, so maintenance is really easy. (1/3 water change weekly, scrub glass once a month).

Anything I can do to improve the scape?

**Verminator** · 24th Feb 2009, 08:19

I shall be keeping tabs on this over the coming months then to see the progress. It looks very tranquil. For me the riccia is a bit distracting with how its placed like a plateau rising up. I don't know what to suggest though. Other than that i think this is a very good scape, well done!

**ecar0h** · 25th Feb 2009, 12:11

Took Squee's comments and shifted the left rock arrangement a little to the right. Here's an angled view..

Picture of the nice long plant. Whats this called again???

Verminator: you're right, the riccia is quite distracting. Have removed it and the effect is much better. Thanks.

**Verminator** · 25th Feb 2009, 17:04

Looks far more uniform now. Theres a flow across the length of the tank now that the riccia prevented previously. Certainly better.

As for the I.D of the taller plant i'm unsure. I havnt much experience with this type of plant.

**Jervis** · 25th Feb 2009, 19:54

Well done! The tank definitely looks larger than 1.5ft! I suspect the tall plant is a long form of Cryptocoryne. Cannot be 100% certain.

**Verminator** · 25th Feb 2009, 20:18

The plant i would hazard a guess at being possibly Crinum Calamistratum although more likely to be Cryptocoryne Crispatula var balansae. Can't be sure though. I can't think of any other plants that grow like this.

**ecar0h** · 26th Feb 2009, 21:07

Spot on! Just verified with Seah of Aquatic Connection and he confirmed that this is a thin variant of the Cryptocoryne Crispatula var balansae. I really like this cos it is perfect for small tanks.

Next improvement will be to add in some Borara Brigittae, which is hard to find. (apparently lots of Meras are mistaken for BBs).

Will update this post in due cost. Thanks for all the support and advice given guys, appreciate it!

**ecar0h** · 28th Feb 2009, 23:43

Hey guys, where in Singapore can I get some nice Borara Bridgettaes? Can't seem to find any, cos those who have some are mixed with Meras.

**ecar0h** · 7th Mar 2009, 09:43

Update: BBs ordered! Coming in next week. Can't wait to acclimatize them into the scape, which looks like this now.

Have noticed that green and yellow colors have taken over much of the scape. Also, the layer of green algae forming on the rocks have depleted the grey contrast originally planned in a rock scape. Plan is to get BBs to add a touch of reds. (Think the 4 endlers are just sufficient to keep the cherry population in check and prevent other fleas or worms populating).

Makan (Malay for dining) time. Ramshorn yum yum.

Initially planned for the tenellus to be located only at the rear, didn't expect it to already start creeping into the midground.

Will be shaving the jap HG this week and do some brushing off algae on the rocks to get that grey back. For the creeping tenellus, how do I replant them? Will it severely affect the plant if I cut the roots connecting the creeps to replant them?

Thats it for now, thanks for looking.