Noob planning a planted fw pico rimless

[octanejunkie]

I was so inspired by Brian's 2.11-gal pico thread that I ordered the same tank (I know, I know; unoriginal) and am starting to plan the build.

Future inhabitants will be shrimp, but I have not decided which species exactly yet... perhaps some RCS, or a variant thereof, as this will be my first invertebrate tank and I'd like something that will be able to breed in basic fw conditions. I could go brackish vs. fw... nothing is set in stone yet.

I am looking for plants, lighting and filtration advice but have been leaning towards duplicating Brian's setup with the Azoo Palm Filter, Foam Pre-Filter, and either the same light Brian has or perhaps this SR-40 from Ebay or perhaps the Nano Type-P from TruAqua.

I would like to use CaribeSea Eco-Complete Planted Black as my substrate with some rock and wood in there, and obviously plants! I'm looking at local vendors, online retailers and other sources. I will cycle the tank before I get any livestock in there. I want to create an elegant but simple, beautiful and successful tank

I'll keep this thread updated as I go, but would love to solicit opinions and advice from the more experienced community here!

 

[Brian_Nano12g]

Following!

There's nothing unoriginal.. haha I'm not the first to get this tank. Consider the tank a blank canvas... the scape will be your own! The high clarity glass and superb silicone work on these cubes are certainly beautiful though.

Neos are a great shrimp to start out with. I just acquired pumpkin shrimp.. prior to that, I had red rili.

 

[Brian_Nano12g]

Check out this thread on TPT... Jake has been purchasing several of these 2.1g cubes for shrimp... he has gone through various light options as well.

Jake's High-Clarity Shrimp Cubes

 

[octanejunkie]

Check out this thread on TPT... Jake has been purchasing several of these 2.1g cubes for shrimp... he has gone through various light options as well.

Jake's High-Clarity Shrimp Cubes

Thanks for the link, will read up on TPT tonight!

Circling back to the cost of the Azoo Palm on amazon, I can get it at Dr. Fosters +shipping for less. But I saw this Finnex Pure-5 on amazon for less than Azoo anywhere (once factoring in shipping) - any experience with the Finnex?

 

[Brian_Nano12g]

Not me..but I think the guy on TPT I linked to uses them. Should be about comparable to the Azoo.

 

[octanejunkie]

Not me..but I think the guy on TPT I linked to uses them. Should be about comparable to the Azoo.

Reading his post, he lost a shrimp by one possibly crawling up the outflow... guess I should plan on looking out for that to happen and screen the output.

Overall, from a filter, I'm looking for safe, reliable, effective, quiet and affordable. $20 for a filter that will keep my tank healthy is no biggie. Is there any filter that should be avoided?

Interestingly, he chose for the Wavepoint 3 Watt LED. I had looked at that light as well as this no-name but I'm leaning towards tried and true: Archaea LED light fixture 17cm (clamp-on) All white LED [LED-H17W] - $29.99 : Aqua Forest Aquarium, ADA USA, Aqua Design Amano

 

[Brian_Nano12g]

I like that no-name one, it looks pretty sleek too! I'm diggin' the white. The watts it uses is 2.6w versus 1.68w on my light... so I guess you get a marginal increase in light. But it's hard to say.. sometimes I hate buying stuff blindly when there's no reviews on it. On the bright side, it's on Amazon so it would be easy to return and if you have Prime, you'll get it in two days free shipping.

As for the filter, it will happen. If you keep the water level lower than the outflow of the filter, you should be okay. But even so, I've been running the Azoo Palm Filter on a small cube for a while with some shrimp, even with the water all the way up to the outflow level... I hardly have shrimp trying to crawl out. I did at first and I lost a couple, but I think it had something to do with the water quality or O2 level in the tank... I think if you keep the conditions in the cube pristine, they'll most likely not want to escape.

 

[Billbug68]

Subscribed!

 

[octanejunkie]

Hardware decisions made

I ordered the no-name LED from amazon, I'll post a review once I get it.

I also decided to stick with the Azoo filter, looking to see if I can muster up $50 in purchases from Dr. F+S to get free shipping... or just pay the $6.

So, if I am going to make this a shrimp tank, what plants do you all think would be best in an 8x8x8 cube?

 

[Brian_Nano12g]

What you're having trouble finding enough stuff to get 50$ with in purchases? For me, it's the other way around... I have to struggle to remove stuff from the cart! Haha

Well... I have some suggestions..
This magFox has come in handy in cleaning the tank in the hard to reach spots..

http://www.drsfostersmith.com/product/prod_display.cfm?pcatid=23699

Other stuff just "good" to have are (if you don't have them): Purigen, Excel, Flourish, Flourish tabs, Biomax, media bags, shrimp net, fluval shrimp granules, test kits, etc.... the list goes on not knowing that you have in your arsenal. Lol

As for that light, I'm glad you chose it.. in a way, your review will help others decide if it's a good option! Can't wait!

 

[Brian_Nano12g]

As for plants... shrimp LOVE moss. There's a bunch to choose from (mini Xmas, fissidens, peacock, Taiwanese, etc.).... just don't get java moss..

Or even a marimo moss ball. Anubias micro or petite is good. I have narrow leaf java fern in mine too.

 

[dragonfisher33]

there's no such thing as "un-original" tank. every tank is different because of the equipments, geographical regions, water parameters, etc. even if you manage to get everything that Brian had when he started his nano tank, the way your plants "decide" to grow might go a different path

 

[octanejunkie]

I really don't have much in my arsenal... yet.

I would like to get the things I will regularly need without breaking the bank to have things gathering dust on my shelf vs. the store's shelves.

I guess it shouldn't be too hard to rack up a $59 order after all, thanks for the list

 

[octanejunkie]

As for plants... shrimp LOVE moss. There's a bunch to choose from (mini Xmas, fissidens, peacock, Taiwanese, etc.).... just don't get java moss..

Or even a marimo moss ball. Anubias micro or petite is good. I have narrow leaf java fern in mine too.

I was looking at the marimo moss balls, petco near me has them "floating" but I know that the real marimo don't float, all the time. I could see having a few small ones rolling around in the nano cube, there is a seller on eBay that does a bunch of 5 for $10 shipped...

I really like the left hand tank in this thread/post #65... I love the moss and wood, it appears very natural. I would love a mid-ground piece like that with moss and some taller plants in the back ground to visually obscure the filter and intake and small plants/grasses upfront. Or perhaps a 360° viewable tank and with a center piece and plants in the center 3rd, with 2 foreground areas lightly planted so there is no non-visible areas of the tank.

Why no Java moss? I have it in my tall/round tank and was hoping to transfer it to the cube...

 

[octanejunkie]

there's no such thing as "un-original" tank. every tank is different because of the equipments, geographical regions, water parameters, etc. even if you manage to get everything that Brian had when he started his nano tank, the way your plants "decide" to grow might go a different path

Thanks for the encouragement and reality-check

 

[Brian_Nano12g]

LOL... I'm just not a fan of Java Moss as the growth of it is somewhat erratic. The visual appeal of some of the rarer mosses like Mini Xmas, Flame, Singapore, Peacock, Fissidens (aka: phoenix moss) I find to be more attractive. But that's just a personal opinion... go with what you like.

Feel free to get the same plants I have... I mean it works well in a low tech pico tank environment. I would offer to ship you some plants but it's so darn hot here in AZ right now I don't think the plants would do well.

Where in So Cal do you live? That's where I'm from originally... Santa Monica! There's a few LFS that are pretty good.. not to mention the SCAPE club. You should sign up on SCAPE and get plants from other hobbyist. They're usually a lot cheaper if not free sometimes.

 

[octanejunkie]

LOL... I'm just not a fan of Java Moss as the growth of it is somewhat erratic. The visual appeal of some of the rarer mosses like Mini Xmas, Flame, Singapore, Peacock, Fissidens (aka: phoenix moss) I find to be more attractive. But that's just a personal opinion... go with what you like.

My patch of Java Moss pretty much just sits there with a few rocks on top of it. The fish are mostly unaffected by it's presence, I don't think they care. In the context of keeping my future setup simple and low tech (no CO2) which mosses (or grasses) would do best, and where can I find them for sale?

Feel free to get the same plants I have... I mean it works well in a low tech pico tank environment. I would offer to ship you some plants but it's so darn hot here in AZ right now I don't think the plants would do well.

That's very kind of you Brian

Where in So Cal do you live? That's where I'm from originally... Santa Monica! There's a few LFS that are pretty good.. not to mention the SCAPE club. You should sign up on SCAPE and get plants from other hobbyist. They're usually a lot cheaper if not free sometimes.

We live in Santa Monica 12th and Idaho to be exact. Most of the local aquarium stores are either gone, have bad selection or have crazy-stupid pricing. I have been looking at all the local stores from Culver City to the SFV and have been taking note of stock and pricing... planning, planning, planning = measure three times, buy once.

 

[octanejunkie]

On another note, Amazon.com just pinged me... my new LED clamp on light has shipped and will arrive tomorrow!

Gosh I love Amazon PRIME...

 

[Brian_Nano12g]

Oh cool.... Yeah I lived off of Bundy & Santa Monica Blvd. almost all my life! LOL

Anyway.. how about Nature Aquarium on Santa Monica Blvd? They got some awesome stuff there... it's a little pricey, I know but they have some ADA style stuff and lots of plants.

Last time I was there, I took these pics:

Anyway... for moss... all would grow with ease fairly well.

Here's a guy in LA selling Mini Xmas on TPT... You can save on shipping and do a local pickup perhaps.
The Planted Tank Forum

Or H4N on TPT has a wide range of mosses...
The Planted Tank Forum

Here's some fissidens fontanus...
The Planted Tank Forum

And yes... PRIME is awesome!!! Sometimes I get stuff the next day instead of the 2 day quote time.

 

[Brian_Nano12g]

On another note, Amazon.com just pinged me... my new LED clamp on light has shipped and will arrive tomorrow!

Gosh I love Amazon PRIME...

So did you get the light? How is it?